


Seize the Moment

by PompousPickle



Category: THE iDOLM@STER, The iDOLM@STER Sidem
Genre: Bad Matchmaking Attempts, Ensemble Cast, High x Joker Shenanigans, Humor, M/M, Slice of Life, backround haruhaya, boys being bad at feelings, or some attempt at it, teenage appropriate sexual tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 18:10:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 32,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13980615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PompousPickle/pseuds/PompousPickle
Summary: Alternatively: "The One Where Shiki Decides that Ren and Takeru need to Kiss"Chaos ensues.





	1. Rei

**Author's Note:**

> Happy 3/15!! This was supposed to be a short funny piece that I supposed to finish for today but...then it got kind of out of control. Still, it's been a lot of fun to write for this fandom so far. I hope to continue in the future. 
> 
> Written for and beta'd by Rokarca, the light of my life and Rei to my Shiki.

It wasn’t that Rei necessarily _disliked_ Ren Kizaki. It was just that Ren was loud. He was rude. He never bothered to call Rei anything other than “Violin Boy”. He had absolutely no sense of timing or personal space. His idea of table manners consisted of _occasionally_ remembering to chew with his mouth closed. And he constantly invited himself on what should be otherwise private affairs.

Okay, maybe Rei did dislike him, but he had some fairly good reasons to.

Still, Shiki liked him. And while Shiki liked most people, it still meant that there had to be some sort of good side to him that Rei was simply missing. It was probably very obvious and Rei was simply overlooking it. He wasn’t used to very many people, after all. Really just Kei, the Producer, and Shiki.

Shiki.

It always came back to Shiki. Things were easier when he was around. People felt less daunting, and being an idol felt a lot less like work and a lot more like fun. Things were just better with Shiki Iseya.

Rei just wished he had the words to tell him so.

“Rei-chi!” A familiar voice called out, as if summoned by Rei’s own thoughts. Before he had any time to dwell on it, Shiki pummeled Rei into a fierce hug. Shiki rubbed his face against Rei’s hair, as if reveling in the softness of it, before Rei gently pulled his friend off. “I’m so hyper mega relieved to see that you didn’t ditch me! School was such a _drag_ today. First one of my teachers yelled at me, and then I totally bombed my last English test, and then I tripped during phsy-ed! And to top it all off, I had to sit through another tutoring lecture.” He sighed dramatically, nearly draping himself across Rei as he huffed out a sigh. “If you had gone on without me, I’d be convinced that today was truly the worst day _ever_.”

Rei smiled, just a little. Iseya-san really was like a puppy. Rei almost reached out his hand to pat his friend on the shoulder reassuringly. However, before he even got halfway there, he withdrew, placing his hand back into his pocket. “That does sound quite bad,” he finally agreed politely. “But…” he searched for the words for a second before finally looking into his friend’s eyes. “I don’t think I would ever leave you unless it was truly an emergency.”

Shiki beamed at him like it was the best news he had ever heard in his life, rather than common curtesy. As though they haven’t been taking the train together for months now. As if this small routine wasn’t somehow engrained into Rei Kagura’s life. No, there was something in that smile that was just so genuine and bright, and proved that Shiki meant everything he said. He was glad Rei was here, waiting for him.

Rei _had_ to say something.

“Iseya-san,” Rei said in one long breath, trying to sound as loud and as confident as possible. Like on stage, he reminded himself as he spoke with conviction. “There’s a new fruit café down the road from the station. Their parfaits are quiet popular and I was wondering…”

“Eh? Parfaits?” Ren’s voice cut through like glass shattering. Rei hadn’t even noticed him approaching, and he wasn’t sure if he could attribute that to Ren’s quick footedness or his own single-minded focus on Shiki. “Hope they’re better than that last crackpot excuse of a place. Way too much cream. What’s even the point?”

Rei was speechless, staring at the young man as he wrapped his arm lazily around Shiki. So casually, as if it was second nature. Rei felt something small and angry bubble up inside of him. He wasn’t exactly jealous of their relationship, no. He more just wished he could be that casual and open with his friends. He envied that in Ren, if nothing else.

Shiki spun around, delighted, practically bouncing in excitement. “Ren-chi! Are you coming to get parfaits with us?!”

Rei let out a small breath of relief. Shiki had accepted his offer to go to the café. It was a victory, albeit a small one.

Ren shrugged. “As long as it’s on Violin Boy, I suppose I can let you guys hang around me for a little while,” His smile was more of a leer, and Rei immediately felt his pulse pick up in panic, put on the spot instantly.

Shiki was quick to defend though, sliding out of Ren’s grip and spinning around. “Ren-chi! You can’t do that to Rei-chi! He uses that money to buy Kei-san food! It would be ultra super bad if he forgot to eat dinner again!”

Rei sighed. “He’s really not that bad,” he added softly. However, even he was unsure sometimes. Kei was not exactly known for his outstanding self-awareness. He looked over at Ren a tad nervously, perhaps for some kind of acknowledgement. Or perhaps just to see if he could get a read on what he was thinking.

However, the other boy was already bored with the conversation, picking his nose absentmindedly and walking towards the train-station. “Whatever, if we’re not getting parfaits, this is a damn waste of my valuable time! Come on you two useless idiots. If someone as great as I am has to ride the train, I’m not going to do it alone.”

Rei glanced over at Shiki this time, who shrugged a little and darted after Ren, falling into step behind him. He looked back at Rei and smiled, that same dazzling smile that always made things a little bit easier.

And just like that, Rei’s footsteps picked up as well. Within a few seconds, all three of them were walking together, nearly side by side. That is, if it weren’t for Ren keeping just one or two footsteps ahead of the other two. It didn’t bother Rei any. If anything, it let him focus on Shiki, looking over at him in the afternoon’s harsh sunlight. He always seemed to glow with this effervescent natural energy, even when he wasn’t on stage. Combined with the sunlight, he almost blinded Rei Kagura.

Finally, Rei spoke up again. “It really is alright, Iseya-san. I was going to pay anyway.” His voice was hushed, nearly a whisper. He knew it was a small thing, but it felt so private to Rei, to admit that he wanted to pay for Shiki’s food. Almost a confession, meant only for Shiki’s ears.

Ren heard it anyway. Rei could just tell from the way his shoulders shifted as they walked. A wolfish grin formed on Ren’s face, spreading ear to ear at the promise of free food, and Rei swore he could feel his heart drop down to the pit of his stomach.

No. He really did not like Ren Kizaki much at all.

\---

This café did not use nearly as much cream as the last one. Even still, Rei watched Ren pick apart the fruit, knowing the boy would somehow find something to complain about.  There was a small comfort in Ren’s predictability. Despite everything off-putting about him, it eventually came down to a routine. The way he laughed at his own jokes, the way he scarfed down food as if it meant nothing to him, the way he talked endlessly with his mouth full.

In a weird way, it was almost like a song. And Rei could understand songs.

“Of course,” Ren went on and on about the drama he was filming, tiny bits of strawberry spewing from his mouth. He wiped his mouth clean with his sleeve and continued talking. “The next episode taping should be a piece of cake for a genius like me. I already have the script memorized! I barely even had to look at it!” He punctuated his sentence with a loud laugh, and Shiki started applauding.

Rei glanced down at Ren’s bag, where part of the script had slipped out on the floor. On further inspection, it seemed to be covered in highlighter and various notes, namely question marks and doodles by Ren’s own hand.

“That’s incredible, Ren-chi!! Man, I’m ultra jealous. My last acting role, I had to study for weeks and I _still_ kept messing up. I was just so _excited_ to be on a real live movie set,” Shiki said wistfully, taking a huge spoonful of peaches and shoving it into his mouth. His face lit up immediately, swallowing with excited fervor. “Woah! These peaches are so sweet and fresh! Rei-chi, you have to try!” He thrust the spoon forward towards the young man’s mouth, and Rei’s heart nearly stopped.

His shoulders felt locked in place as he tried to lean forward, opening his mouth a little. It occurred to him distantly that he was barely breathing. He knew Shiki didn’t mean anything by it, of course. Shiki was like this with all of his friends. He saw him with the others enough times to know this. Still, Rei could hardly quiet his pulse as he nodded and closed his eyes, his lips parted and expecting.

However, a moment passed and he heard Ren sputtering. He opened his mouth to see that Ren had thrust himself forward, taking the bite from Shiki’s hand. “Disgusting! You like this crap?” He spat a bit of it back into a napkin, and Rei was frankly just glad that he bothered to use a napkin. “God, peaches always taste like farts. I hate that shit.”

“Then why did you bother to take a bite, if you knew you would not like it?” Rei asked as politely as he could possibly muster, his shoulders still tightened and his face firm, searching for some kind of answer. He didn’t even look over at Shiki, staring resolutely at Ren.

Ren just laughed, not a hint of apology on his face or in his voice. “Shortie’s got a fondness for that kind of sweet summery crap, I guess. I wanted to see what the big deal was. Turns out, that dense twerp has no taste in anything. Don’t know why I was so surprised. Idiot.” Ren said it almost to himself, returning to his own parfait, popping a grape into his mouth.

Before Rei could respond, however, Ren went on. “I don’t know where that daft loser gets off, anyway. It’s bad enough that the ugly crackpot of a director cast him as the show’s hero. But then he doesn’t even go around acting _happy_ about it. He stole _my_ role and he doesn’t even _celebrate_. And he goes on and on ‘studying’ for it without so much as a smile.” He then started laughing. “Imagine how _stupid_ he’s going to look when I outshine him during the filming and take all his fans!”

Rei stared at him for a few moments, trying to think of something to say. He did not know Taiga-san particularly well, but everyone knew about the seemingly bad-blood between him and Ren. Ren talked about him often, and always with this single-minded attention that seemed to border on…

Rei stopped, unable to find the correct word. Shiki was looking over at him, smiling a little as Ren rambled on and on. Rei smiled back, despite himself. “You know Rei-chi I was thinking,” he said, pointing up to the ceiling. “The music in this café, it’s pretty nice, right?”

Rei hadn’t noticed, and a flush of shame washed over him. He always tried to listen, at least a little, to the ambient music of most places. Kei had started him on it and it was quickly turning into a habit to train his ears to the world around him. However, his irritation at Ren Kizaki had dampened that. But now, with Shiki next to him, it felt easier to slip away.

Ren kept talking, of course, between long bites of his parfait. And while Rei wanted to be a good friend, he was finding it more relaxing and familiar to pay attention to the music. He tracked the notes in his mind in time with Ren’s words. Each rise and fall, every key, every sharp and every flat. He let it wash over him and blend into the store. When he opened his eyes, Shiki and Ren were laughing over something or another, and Rei couldn’t help but smile. Rei felt so much more relaxed; Shiki made it so much easier. And despite his leering grin, Ren felt so much less daunting.

\---

“Haah,” Shiki out a long sigh as he stretched. “I needed that!” Ren had left shortly after the café, citing that he had more important places to be and he’d be back at the production office before long. Rei wasn’t terribly surprised; he always seemed to be running off somewhere or another. He tried not to concern himself with it too much. “You are _so_ mega awesome for paying for me, Rei-chi! Like seriously, you’re just…” he paused, grinning as he thought of the word. “ _Saikou_!”

Rei blinked several times, smiling a tiny bit. “I assure you, the pleasure was all mine,” he said, kicking himself for the formality. But he knew it simply couldn’t be helped. It was who he was. Kei always assured him that it was a charm-point, and the Producer never seemed to mind. And Shiki…

Shiki only laughed, full-bodied and delighted at Rei’s answer. “That’s just like my Rei-chi! You’re just like something out of an old romance manga! No wonder you have so many fans.”

Rei paused. He never really thought of himself as being popular, especially among the others in 315. However, when Shiki said it, it felt true. It felt _meaningful_.

Before he could say anything though, Shiki let out a long sigh. “Do you think Ren-chi had a good time?”

The question took Rei off guard. But that was just like the other boy, to care about all of his friends no matter what. The least Rei owed him was an honest answer. “It can be hard to tell with him,” he admitted, thinking back on the way Ren acted. It hardly seemed out of the ordinary from their usual encounters. He finished all his food and was smiling when they parted ways, so it seemed to be the most natural assumption that he enjoyed himself, in his own strange way. “I believe he did, yes.” 

Shiki didn’t seem convinced, however. “I guess you’re probably right.” He seemed lost in thought somewhere, in that ever-turning mind that Rei sought so hard to understand. “I just…” he grunted as he tried to find the proper thoughts. “I just wish we could make him get along with his unit more. He’s always fighting with Taku-chi and I can’t figure out why they hate each other so much. I thought talking to him more about it would help but man, I just can’t figure it out! You and Kei-san are so mega lucky. You two _always_ get along so well!”

Rei thought it over. At first, he didn’t like Tsuzuki-san when they first met. He was absent-minded, lazy, and dismissively squandered opportunities as they came his way. However, his passion for music was solid, and more and more the man proved himself to be nothing like the many adults who had hurt Rei in the past. It was a long journey, and it still had many different obstacles, but it had proved very worthwhile.

Ren Kizaki, on the other hand…

Ren was insolent, and loud. He was cocky and obstinate and unapologetic. But then Rei thought about the script spilling out onto the floor, covered in notes and highlights. He thought about how much Ren seemed to know about Taiga-san, talking about him constantly. He paid attention to his unit-mate’s likes and dislikes, his strengths and his weaknesses. He never seemed to want to drag the other boy down, necessarily. He simply only wanted to prove that he was better. In the end, Ren seemed fixated on Takeru, in a strange way. It was almost like…

“That’s not it, Iseya-san,” Ren finally said, as the two finally reached outside of the production office. “I don’t think Kizaki-san dislikes Taiga-san at all.” He paused for a moment, trying to summon up a proper way to explain it. “Kizaki-san is very blunt, and always says what he means. However, at the same time, I’m not sure he always says what he _feels_.”

Or even knows what it is he’s feeling in the first place.

The gears seemed to churn in Shiki’s mind as the words sunk in. He gasped a moment later, his brain jumping around to conclusions that Rei was almost positive he didn’t imply. “Rei-chi! You really are brilliant! That was incredible! Do me next! Tell me something about me!”

“I’m not a psychologist,” Rei said awkwardly, his blood running a little cold.

“Aw,” Shiki frowned, but only for a second before pepping back up again. “Even still, I think you cracked the case!” Facing Rei dead on, he grabbed both of the boy’s hands and smiled.

“Cracked…?” He started, trying to follow the overly-excited boy’s train of thought. At times, it truly felt as though Shiki was jumping around from point to point aimlessly, with barely a thread to truly connect them. Rei stared at him for a moment, before looking down at their hands intertwined. Even if he didn’t quite understand what Shiki was getting at, he already knew it would be entirely pointless to resist.

“We’re going to get Ren-chi to confess his feelings for Taku-chi! And we’re going to do it together!”

Rei’s eyes grew in shock. He did not like where this was going.

And he really truly did not like Kizaki Ren.


	2. Haruna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruna thinks Shiki's plan MIGHT just be crazy enough to work. 
> 
> It's probably not.

Shiki barged into the club room with unusual enthusiasm, even for Shiki. “ALRIGHT! Let’s get started!” Haruna raised an eyebrow in interest. Whatever had gotten Shiki so worked up had to have been good. He had texted the group chat the night before, calling an emergency meeting for the next day, telling them that they all had “ultra mega super important” work to do.

Whatever it was, Haruna was pumped. Because even if it was one of Shiki’s over-the-top and impractical plans, he was absolutely positive that it wasn’t going to be boring.

Shiki tossed a spiral notebook on the table and then returned to the door. “Rei-chi!! Get in here! Everyone’s here and we can’t start without you!” He cried out.

Haruna glanced over at Hayato and Jun, who shrugged and raised a skeptical eyebrow, respectively. Natsuki looked down at the notebook and poked at it quietly. Haruna followed the action, looking at the neon pink notebook with drawings all over the cover. On it was written “Super Mega Hyper Awesome Operation: Cupid”, with drawings of what looked to be super-deformed versions all five of the club members. They were all dressed in nothing but towels, holding bows and arrows in each hand.

There was a sixth Cupid too, with a small smile a blushing face, drawn significantly more carefully and thoughtfully than the rest of the club.

As if on cue, Shiki came dragging in Rei Kagura, glancing around awkwardly as he shuffled into the club room. “Kagura-san. It’s nice to see you.” Jun was the first to say something, smiling but clearly wary. “What, however,” his gaze shifted over to Shiki, suddenly calm and dangerous, “Brings you to our club room?”

Haruna sure was glad to not be Shiki Iseya sometimes. “Who cares, Jun? It’s always good to have another friend here, right? Yo, Kagura-kun!” He decided to pipe up, before poor Rei could get any more nervous than he already was. None of the others knew the guy terribly well, other than the fact that he was reserved and could play one hell of a violin solo. But Shiki seemed fond of him, and that was more than enough of a reason to be careful not to scare him off.

“Hello, everyone,” Rei gave a painfully polite bow, unsure as he looked from person to person. “I’m sorry for the sudden intrusion.” He bowed again, and Haruna nearly cringed with how pent up and awkward he seemed to be. There was no need for that; they were friends, after all.

Haruna was about to tell him as much, to get the guy to relax. However, before he could, Shiki wrapped his arm around Rei’s neck and dragged him closer to the club room’s table. “Rei-chi had a _super_ awesome discovery yesterday! And now it’s up to all of us to put it into practice!”

The club all looked amongst themselves, questioning and hesitant. It was Hayato who was the first to speak up, clearing his throat and smiling encouragingly, not wanting to let either Shiki or Rei down. “Well? Let’s hear it! We’re all ears!”

Shiki grinned, ear to ear, pulling up the notebook and thrusting it forward, nearly falling onto the table with how far he leaned inwards. “Introducing, Super Mega Hyper Awesome Operation: CUPID! We’re going to make Ren-chi and Takeru-chi fall in love!”

The club fell silent, almost breathless. Haruna nearly felt himself choke.

“We’re going to… _what?_ ” Jun’s voice was calm, emotionless. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes told a completely different story. Rei cringed in Shiki’s arms, looking at the door for some kind of escape. Haruna could hardly blame him.

Still, he was intrigued.

“Aw come on Jun-chi! Don’t be like that!” Shiki laughed, placing down the notebook. Hayato leaned forward to grab it, pulling it over so that he and Haruna could get a better look at it. “It’ll be fun!” He stuck out his upper lip and furrowed his brow, in the least convincing pout Haruna had ever seen, even for Shiki. “Don’t you want to see Ren-chi happy?”

Jun looked at him like he had completely lost his mind.

“Shiki,” Hayato finally said, breaking his stunned silence. “Did you come up with all these plans last night?” He leafed through the pages of the notebook, with plan after plan on how to get the two to confess their love for each other.

“Yeah! It took me all night but I think I really got it down! Cool, right?” Shiki grinned.

Haruna glanced down at the notebook, raising an eyebrow Hayato leafed through each page.

_Operation: Compete for the Maiden’s Hand!_

_Cupid #3 confesses his love for Taku-chi! In a blind rage, Ren-chi and Cupid #3 compete in combat for Taku-chi’s heart!!_

“Who’s Cupid #3?” Jun asked, leaning over despite himself. Haruna couldn’t help but snicker. Despite everything, even the sensible Jun was interested.

“Haruna-chi!” Shiki chirped happily, as though it were completely obvious.

Haruna looked up with a start, ice running through his veins at the thought. “What?! Why me?!”

“Easy! You’re the oldest!” Shiki replied, as though that explained absolutely everything. He pulled up a chair, offering it to Rei to sit down. Rei sat down timidly, his back rigid and his knuckles nearly white. Shiki pulled up his chair right next to him, their arms nearly touching as Shiki leaned over to look through the notebook with the others.

Hayato turned the page.

_Operation: Super Chivalry Jacket Sharing!_

_Taku-chi finds himself suddenly doused in water and left in the cold!! Ren-chi has no choice but to offer up his own jacket for the safety and comfort of his beloved!_

“Are you suggesting we throw water on Taiga-san?” Jun’s facial expression was once again completely unreadable.

“I don’t know that Ren actually wears anything underneath his jacket,” Rei then piped in pragmatically.

None of them even mentioned the absurdity of someone like Ren Kizaki doing something for the mere comfort of someone else. Let alone over Takeru Taiga.

Page turn.

_Operation: Lock Them in a Closet Until they Confess!_

“Absolutely not.”

Jun reached over and turned the page before Shiki could even argue.

_Operation: Make Him Jealous!_

_Cupid #3 confesses his love for Takeru! In a jealous rage, Ren-chi realizes his true feelings and confesses._

“How is that any different from the first one?” Jun raised an eyebrow.

“No jousting tournament!” Shiki blinked, once again like everything was so simple and set in stone. Haruna just sunk into his chair. Why was it always him?

He glanced over at Hayato, who was uncharacteristically quiet throughout the whole ordeal, still looking over the notebook. His eyes were searching, glancing around and darting frantically over each and every page.

“What’s on your mind, Leader?” Haruna finally asked.

Hayato bit his lip, balling his hands into a fist in his lap. He took a small breath, closing the notebook and nodding. He glanced over at Rei for a long moment before finally looking at the rest of the club.

“I think we should do it.”

Shiki cheered, jumping up from his seat. Everyone else sat stunned.

“I know it seems odd, and I know Kizaki-kun isn’t the…he isn’t the nicest guy around. And he’s always picking fights with Takeru. I don’t even know if they like each other at all. It could be impossible or just downright stupid. But sometimes, when Takeru and I are playing video games and talking, he gets such a sad look in his eye. Even around others, he always seems so lonely.” Hayato’s voice shook, just a little bit, before steadying out. “I don’t know what will happen, but if it could make Takeru smile, then I want to help.”

When Hayato smiled like that, it was impossible to deny him. The entire club knew it.

“Okay,” Natsuki was the first to agree, everyone snapping to attention as they looked at him for some kind of explanation or reasoning. He only shrugged. “I want to help,” he offered meekly, slowly and softly.

“You know…” Something occurred to Haruna, before the boy decided where he stood on all this. “Hayato is right. I’m not going to doubt Rei’s intuition, but how do you know these feelings are even romantic? And how can you tell Takeru even feels the same way? This could all just be pointless.”

“I never said it was romantic,” Rei then finally added, his voice strained and helpless, but firm in his words. Haruna wanted to feel bad for the guy, really. But in the end, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was in the room because a part of him wanted to be there. He couldn’t quite put his finger on the feeling, but it was there. Besides, the guy needed more friends.

Shiki seemed to ponder on it, however. “Okay! New operation!” He grabbed the notebook from Hayato’s hands and pulled out a bright purple pen. He started scribbling frantically. “Operation: Getting to Know You!! Both of them are filming that super cool action show later, right? There’s no reason we can’t come along to watch them interact! We’ll all talk to the Producer! This could be our chance!”

“Who said I was even going to do anything?” Jun asked, voice cutting through politely, but very firmly. “And I don’t remember Haruna agreeing.”

Haruna froze, put on the spot. In truth, he had pretty much resigned himself to it from the get-go. He didn’t really know either of the two that well, but Shiki liked Ren alright, and Hayato seemed pretty fired up about Takeru. He couldn’t help but get interested. And if it held his attention, then it was worth exploring, right?

“Sure, what the hell?” Haruna laughed. “Besides, going to a TV taping could help us out. Sounds like fun!”

“No, it doesn’t.” But despite all his posturing, Haruna knew. They all did. Jun would be right there alongside them. The odds were stacked against him, and he knew that he was needed to keep everyone else in line if things got out of hand.

And with Shiki Iseya, Haruna could count on things to get out of hand. In fact, he was looking forward to it.


	3. Hayato

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys do acting. Hayato wants to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, the drama in question is taken from my personal favorite event, Cybernetic Wars. With some liberties taken. I've been toying with making a full AU of this concept please send help.

High x Joker had not done very much on-location filming, mostly just set work. So Hayato had to admit that he was pretty excited that the Producer had let them all come along. They piled onto a bus with the rest of the crew to get out to the field where they were shooting. The Director was kind of enough to explain the entire process to the eager club. One of the camera men even let Haruna help set up some of the equipment as they prepared the location.

The only thing that _wasn’t_ going smoothly, it seemed, was the reason they had tagged along in the first place.

“Alright! Let’s run the scene back one more time. Taiga-san, remember what we talked about earlier. Kai is losing himself right now. He’s truly desperate. Try to run it back with more emotion this time!” The Director was blunt, but he was kind and encouraging. Takeru just frowned, furrowing his brow as he prepared to run through the scene yet again.  

Ren just howled with laughter. “Ha! All that studying for nothing, Short-stuff? All you have to do is act a little sad, dumbass!” He leered as he moved back into position for the beginning of the scene.

Takeru wasn’t having any of it, quickly closing the distance between them. “Who’re ya calling Dumbass?” He was quick to push Ren on the shoulder, Ren grinning ear to ear at the action. Ren pushed back, the two of them changing their footing to a fighting stance.

Hayato glanced nervously at Enjoji-san, who wasn’t in the particular scene they were filming. Still, he had come along, and he was watching the two carefully. Suddenly, the man glanced down at Hayato. He smiled softly, as though telling him not to worry. He didn’t understand, really. Michiru was the one breaking up their fights back at the office. But today, he seemed content to sit back and watch.

“Alright that’s enough,” the Director finally announced through his megaphone, cutting and professional, but not particularly concerned. “We’re going to take it from the top. Roll back, everyone. Kizaki-san, on your cue.”

Both of them stopped, shuffling back into place like it never happened. Ren laughed once more, his eyes cutting daggers into his unit-mate. “Alright! Just _try_ and top this work of genius, Short-stuff,” he huffed out before slumping down to the ground and beginning the scene again.

After nearly ten whole minutes of taping, the director called for a cut. “And scene!” He announced. “Let me run it back with the crew and we’ll do another take,” he said as the camera crew buzzed around him, taking their work to the editing stations. Before he went to join them, the Director walked over to Takeru and smiled, warm and genuine. “Much better, Taiga-san. I hope you can summon the same emotion in the next scene.”

Takeru stiffened up, glancing once over at Ren before looking back at the man. “Right. I won’t back down, sir!” He finally said with a curt bow. He looked over at the Producer, who was applauding behind the camera.

“I don’t really get it myself,” Enjoji-san finally said to Hayato. “But the Director seems to know what he’s doing, and Producer-san seems to encourage it, to a degree.” He shrugged at first, but a wistful smile slipped onto his face as he watched Takeru pull out some of his notes.

Ren draped himself over his costar, reading the notes over his shoulder. Hayato couldn’t make out the words, but he was almost certain Ren was just making fun of the guy. “I will admit though, Takeru is always a lot less pent-up when Ren pushes his buttons like that. It seems odd, but Takeru is the kind of guy to let himself get wrapped up in his own expectations. I think the Director and Producer have noticed that. Whether he knows it or not, Ren brings him out of his shell.”

When Hayato followed his gaze, he could see it too. Takeru never did have that sad and lonesome look when Ren was around. Sure, it was often a look of irritation, but he never looked quite so distant. He looked back at Michiru, and saw a man who cared deeply about his unit-mates, and would be willing to do anything to help them. Even if that meant letting them fight from time to time.

It set Hayato’s heart on fire. “You can count on me, Enjoji-san!” he finally said, feeling his pulse pick up and tears prick lightly at his eyes. He wiped them away, shaking his head and smiling as the older man simply looked at him with confusion.

Hayato decided to find the rest of his unit and tell them the information he’s gathered.

He found Shiki, Rei and Natsuki first, talking together with an older woman. Rei hadn’t really wanted to come along, citing the hot weather and claiming that he did not want to intrude on club activities. Shiki had begged and pleaded, and ended up dragging him along anyway. Hayato didn’t really understand what was going on between those two, but he was grateful to see the violinist opening up to more people his age.

“Natsuki! Shiki! Kagura-kun! What’s up!” Hayato greeted with a big smile, turning to the older woman with a polite bow. “Ah! Akiyama Hayato. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

“Akiyama-san,” Rei said, moving aside to open their little conversation to include him. Hayato stepped in to join, looking around at the table they were standing at. It was absolutely covered in papers, next to a computer hooked to a printer. Natsuki was looking at the printer with nothing short of utter fascination. “This is Hojou-sensei. She’s one of the main writers for the series.”

The woman smiled gently, brushing her bangs away from a pair of thick glasses. “Hello there! I was just explaining script revisions to your three friends.” She motioned to the computer and showed them the script for the episode. Hayato stared with amazement, looking over the cues and lines.

“It’s kind of like song lyrics!” Hayato said, before he could stop himself. He looked up when he felt the others staring at him. He laughed awkwardly, bowing towards Hojou-sensei apologetically.

“In a way, it is. Though I confess I haven’t written very many songs,” the woman laughed, putting Hayato at ease. “Sometimes, the Director needs a scene to change in order to fit the tone, or to suit the actors better. That’s where I come in. This printer allows me to make revisions on the spot so that the actors can review the changes during downtime. It’s a little stressful, to be at the Director’s beck and call. But every part of the team makes the show tick. And that’s why it’s so successful.”

Natsuki smiled, small and honest. “Like us.”

“Yeah,” he looked around at the rest of the club hanging around the set. The Director was speaking excitedly to Jun with the Producer by his side. Meanwhile, Haruna was exploring the catering table with Ren, who was gleefully stuffing his face with anything he could get his hands on. “Just like us.”

The quiet moment was shattered in an instant. Hayato jumped as he felt something wrap tightly around his wrist. He looked over to see a grinning Shiki, smiling ear to ear as his other hand wrapped tightly around Rei’s wrist. “Alright! Emergency meeting! Right now!”

“Ah…but Jun…” Natsuki pointed over to Jun as he followed the three. They were still speaking to the Director, with Jun growing increasingly more flustered. Hayato blinked, wondering if he was being scouted for something. Whatever it was, the Producer seemed pretty pleased, so it must have been important.

“Let’s leave him for now,” Hayato said encouragingly. “We can update him later.” They wandered off to a quiet corner, hiding behind a lighting stand. “What’s up, Shiki? You got something?”

“Yeah you bet! And this one is _ultra_ super extra good!” Shiki grinned ear to ear, snickering a little at his own plan. “You saw the scene, right? Ren’s character gets injured and Takeru’s character risks it all to save him! It’s a super ultra extra emotional scene, right?”

To be honest, Hayato wasn’t paying much attention to the scene itself. But Takeru and Ren had seemed really pumped up; especially after Takeru had loosened his nerves a little bit. “So…”

“So what if we up the ante a little! Make it ultra spicy with a little something extra! Rekka confesses his true feelings for Kai right there, in the middle of the battlefield as Kai makes his sacrifice!” He gripped his hand over his heart, staring off into the distance at some dreamy vision.

“You’re suggesting we change the script?” Rei asked, skin paling over at the thought. “But the Director…”

“It only has to be for one take!” Shiki dismissed the concerns. “We just need Ren-chi to say the lines to Taku-chi. Easy peasy! They can change it back as soon as they notice the difference! They’ll just film the scene over again.” He struck a pose, miming holding a megaphone to his mouth like the Director. “Action! Cut! Scene!” He grinned again, striking a peace sign to the other three. “Like that! See? Simple!”

It didn’t sound simple. It sounded like they could get in serious trouble if they got caught.

But…

Hayato glanced over at the script station. The boy couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to write a script for a TV show. Writing lyrics was fun, but what would it be like to write a character, like Tsukumo-san did?

He didn’t get a chance to say anything before Shiki started speaking again. “Alright! Game on! Natsuki-chi, you’ll distract Houjo-san! Rei-chi, you’ll deliver the new script to Ren-chi! You’re super reliable so he’ll definitely believe you! I’m gonna get Haruna-chi to distract Jun-chi and the Director! And Hayato-sempai…” He smiled again, nodding towards the table. “Write the coolest, most heart-throbbing scene ever, got it?”

When Shiki phrased it like that, it was impossible to say no. Besides, if he wrote it well enough, maybe no one would be mad. Maybe.

“You got it!”

And so they got to work.

“Houjo-san…I need help…over here…” Natsuki said a few minutes later, tugging lightly on the woman’s suit jacket. “I saw a cat…” 

Hayato stared for a moment in confused amazement as the two started wandering off towards the fielded area. He blinked several times before smiling. Sometimes Natsuki was amazing, even if he really didn’t understand him. He glanced over at Rei, who nervously looked at him and nodded a little. “Good luck,” he said with startling seriousness and genuine concern.  It was hard not to like a guy who was always so sincere. Hayato nodded back with as much seriousness as he could muster.

Write something cool, he reminded himself, as he darted to the table.

His palms were sweaty as he looked over the script, skimming it for the correct part of the scene. He looked over Rekka’s line and gulped a little bit, deleting the words and substituting in a few of his own. Not even a second later, he deleted them. People were going to start noticing. People were going to say something. He had to work quickly.

He took a breath, staring at the page again, with intent focus. Something Ren would say, he thought to himself. It had to be something Ren would say.

What would Ren even say?

He glanced over at the young man, chewing on a stick of dried beef and poking at one of the prop guns carelessly.

It struck him all at once, fingers flying past key after key. He wasn’t sure if he was even making sense as he typed, or if he were making any careless errors. But he had to try, and he had to move. He skimmed over the short bit he had written, smiling to himself as he slammed down the print button. “Rei-kun!” he called out in a harsh whisper as the printer spit out the new page.  

Rei ran up to him with a stiff nod, taking the page and glancing over it. He furrowed his brow once before nodding again, looking back up at Hayato with conviction. “Alright. I’ll be going now,” he said, all-too-polite.

Hayato couldn’t help but feel like this was some sort of scene in an action movie, right before a soldier goes out to fight an impossible battle. In a way, it felt pretty fun. Still, he nodded in return with utmost seriousness. “Good luck.”

As soon as Rei took off, Hayato bolted from the table. Should he wipe any signs of fingerprints? Would they even check that kind of thing? He didn’t have enough time to think about it, darting over to the catering tables to watch Rei hand the script over.

He stood at a safe distance, ducking behind a piece of machinery. Still, even from far away, he could hear Ren’s sharp and angry confusion as he reacted to the script change. “What do you _mean_ it’s been changed? We’re going to start filming in five minutes! Where the _hell_ is that piece of shit writer? I need to talk to her about this lousy crap!” He stood up, gripping the paper in one hand without even reading it.

Hayato could almost _see_ Rei’s heart pounding through his chest, trying feebly to block Ren’s path. Almost automatically, Hayato walked forward, coming to greet the two of them. He made a point to look over at the sheet of paper. “Oh? A script change? Houjo-sensei was telling us those happened sometimes!” He prayed Ren couldn’t see him shaking as he smiled. He laughed, trying to play it off. “Of course, Kizaki-kun is a pretty talented actor, right? You’ll be able to pull it off no problem, I bet!”

He felt stiff, and he smile felt forced from ear to ear, and he swore he could hear his own voice crack as he spoke. Still, it seemed to do the trick. “Of course I can pull it off!” Ren was quick to snap to defense, looking down at the already wrinkly page. As he read it, Hayato quickly noticed how his face went from irritable to downright vicious, glaring at the words as though his mere thoughts could set them on fire.  He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly a loud buzzer sounded over the speakers.

With a hiss, Ren slammed the script page down on the table and walked over to the makeup station to get ready for the scene. Rei looked over at Hayato and let out a long breath. “You saved me. My thanks.”

Hayato couldn’t help but grin. He was pretty cool, wasn’t he? “Don’t mention it. He really is something else, huh?” Hayato responded as calmly as he could muster, watching Ren slide into the makeup chair. He looked over to the main part of the set, where Shiki and Haruna waved them over enthusiastically. They were standing with Jun and the Producer. The Director had already wandered off, looking over notes as he slid into his chair.

“Hayato-chi! Rei-chi! You’ll never guess what happened!” Shiki nearly shouted, before Jun elbowed the boy in the stomach to quiet him.

As the two approached the others, Haruna beamed proudly. “Jun got scouted for a prequel movie!”

“Haruna!” Jun hissed, clearly flustered by the situation.

The Producer simply laughed. “We’re talking about making it a full 315 production! We’re very excited, right Jun?” 

Jun just turned his attention over to the field, the tips of his ears just lightly turning pink. “What is Natsuki doing out there with that woman?” He asked, pointing to Natsuki and Houjo-san, coming back onto the set after a few minutes of searching.

“We couldn’t…find it…” Natsuki said, his face genuinely disappointed for not being able to find a cat that he himself had invented. If Hayato didn’t know better, he would have honestly believed him. Maybe the Director scouted the wrong actor, he thought with a small laugh.

The script writer sighed. “Well let’s just hope he doesn’t get underfoot in any of the action scenes. Maybe he got scared and ran off? I’m sure he’ll be safe!” she said, trying to comfort the young man. Natsuki only nodded with a blink. As she walked away, the boy glanced over at Hayato and the others and smiled.

Hayato really did have some talented friends.

“Alright everyone! Quiet on the set! Can we please have quiet on the set?” The Assistant Director shouted from her own megaphone, gesturing towards the Director. He nodded and started ordering the cameramen to position, and the members of 315 all stood with rapt attention as the actors started the scene.

Kai was fighting off a hoard of men, over the wounded body of his partner, Rekka. The odds were endless, the fight was brutal. But then, in desperation, Kai reached for a cybernetic super-weapon. One that could easily rip his own mind apart and kill him. He began to attach it to his arm and hook it to temples of his forehead. It was the only way. The only way to save him. Hayato watched riveted, breath caught in his throat.

Ren reached out grabbed onto Takeru’s costume, battered and exhausted, covered in blood and grime. He hoisted himself up, just barely, eyes blazing with anger. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“I have to protect everyone in this city. No matter the costs. No matter what it takes. Even if it destroys me.”

He hooked up the device.

Hayato looked around at the others, all attentively staring at the scene before them, tense as they watched the action unfold before them. The effects of the cybernetics would be edited in later, of course, and Hayato could see the tech team hammering away at their computers as they worked out the logistics. But still, the power of the weapon was clear, and in the end, the battlefield stood clear aside from Kai and Rekka.

Kai collapsed to his knees, under the strain of the device. Hayato held his breath, knowing the time was drawing near.

“You IDIOT!” Ren nearly shouted as he stumbled over to Takeru, ripping off the device and throwing it to the mud. He grabbed the man by the shirt collar and hoisted him up, shaking him to attention. “You could have died pulling a stunt like that! And all so you could be some stupid hero of the city? Did you think about the consequences of your actions at all? Did you…”

Hayato’s heart stopped beating as Ren paused. He glanced down at the mud, unable to look the other actor in the eye. His brows furrowed, working his brain around the line, and he could almost heart Ren’s heart hammering in his chest. “Did you think about me at all?”

“Re…Rekka,” Takeru scooted backwards, as though trying to catch up with the change, trying to process Ren’s words.

“What’s the point, huh?” Ren continued, shaking his head. “What’s the point in being my partner if you’re just going to throw it all away like that? What’s the point in saving a world that you won’t even live to see?  ” He paused, his hands shaking as he held onto Takeru’s jacket for dear life, as though they would both collapse if he didn’t keep holding to it. “And what’s the _damn_ point in proving that I’m better than you if you’re not there by my side?! You… _dumbass_!”

Hayato’s mouth was completely dry; Ren had delivered the lines even better than he could have hoped for. There was more cursing than he had typed, but he supposed that was to be expected with a guy like Ren. He glanced over at the rest of the club, all watching with wide-eyed amazement as Takeru’s eyes searched Ren’s face, looking for some kind of answer. Even Jun seemed impressed, quietly admiring the work in front of him.

And just like that, the illusion snapped.

Ren dropped Takeru and stood up straight, brushing back his hair and staring at the Director. “Cut the damn scene! Who the hell writes this crap?! That was…”

“Incredible!” the Director shouted through his megaphone. Both the Producer and the Assistant Director jumped in shock from the heft and enthusiasm in the man’s voice. “What incredible improvisation, Kizaki-san!”

It took Ren a solid minute to process what the Director was saying. He blinked several times as the man continued. “You really have such a strong feeling for the character! I like the direction you’re taking him. I like it a lot. We’ll have to talk more about it after today’s session!” He was grinning ear to ear as the two actors stared at him disbelievingly.

However, Ren eventually got with the program, striking a quick pose with a loud guffaw. “What else did you expect? It’s only natural. I’m a genius, after all!”

Takeru only rolled his eyes as he stood up and brushed himself off, getting ready for another take. However, Hayato couldn’t help but notice that something had changed. Normally, the two would sniping at each other by now. Takeru would be mad at Ren for dropping him, or Ren would be making fun of Takeru for some reason or another. Instead, the two seemed to be getting ready for the next scene, almost dutifully.

And more than that, the two of them were barely even looking at each other.

Before he could dwell on it though, he felt a pair of arms envelop him from behind, nearly pushing him to the ground. “HAYATO-CHI! That was incredible!!” Shiki shouted as he wrapped Hayato in a massive bear-hug. The other boy could barely breathe, smiling as he gently pried Shiki off of him.

“ _What_ was incredible?” Jun asked, looking over the two of them with cold and expecting eyes. Shiki jumped off of Hayato immediately, both boys standing at attention as Jun approached with a small smile, waiting for an answer.

However, before either of them could come up with a quick explanation, Haruna started laughing. He wrapped an easy arm around Hayato’s shoulder and smiled. He was carrying a donut from the catering table, munching on it casually as he looked at Jun. “I overheard Hayato giving Ren some coaching on his character! Nice going, Leader.” He added with a small wink.

Hayato was overcome with both relief and jealousy. He wished he could be as effortlessly cool as Haruna always seemed to be. Still, he had been pretty cool himself, hadn’t he? He looked over at Takeru and Ren, who were now speaking with Michiru and the Director. He let himself feel just a little bit of pride. He wrote a pretty good scene, if he said so himself.

“I see,” Jun then paused, glancing over at the two actors as well. “They have chemistry, I’ll give them that.” He sighed, as if finally giving into Shiki’s over-excited schemes. Shiki grinned, opening his mouth to say something to the keyboard player. Jun quickly raised his hand to stop him. “Save it. I still say you could be spending your time a lot more valuably than _this_ ,” he said, vaguely gesturing over to where Takeru and Ren were.

“Still,” Jun added with a small smile, glancing now towards the Director. “I suppose it wasn’t a total waste.”

“Hey! You’re excited you got scouted after all, huh?” Haruna laughed, finishing up his donut. “I knew it!”

“I’m glad…you’re excited…Jun,” Natsuki finally added, causing Jun to shoot them all a withering glare.

Shiki was quick to jump in, all three of them teasing and congratulating Jun on his first major acting role. Jun was getting more and more frustrated by the minute, and Hayato knew it would only be a matter of time before he started yelling at the club to cut it out.

“Everyone seems to be having fun,” Rei finally said, walking up beside him. “You have a talent for writing, Akiyama-san,” he added, giving his best encouraging smile.

Hayato smiled in return, looking back over to the set. Takeru and Ren seemed to have gotten over whatever was eating at them, and they were back to arguing while doing stretches before the next take. Takeru’s arm accidentally stretched out into Ren’s face. Ren shouted something indeterminable, before immediately kicking Takeru in the stomach. Within minutes, Michiru was running in to pull the two away from each other.

Hayato felt himself laugh before he could stop himself, looking back at Rei. “Thanks, but I think I’ll leave the story-writing to Tsukumo-san and the other professionals.”

He looked over at Shiki, Jun, Haruna and Natsuki, all still joking around the set. It was fun, he decided. He liked being able to see his words played out in real life. But in the end, it wasn’t as fun as writing lyrics for his friends. And it couldn’t _begin_ to compare to hearing them all sung together, as a band. 


	4. Takeru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takeru runs from gay thoughts

Despite everything, Takeru and Ren usually sat next to each other while traveling. At first it was a matter of convenience. They were in a unit together and they took up less space than Michiru. So on a crowded bus, there was no reason they _shouldn’t_ sit together. It never ended well, with Ren always spreading himself out and Takeru trying desperately to push him back to make some room. But at this point, it was just habit to do it anyway.

Ren was asleep already, barely 10 minutes away from the set. The rest of the crew was talking amongst themselves, and the members of High x Joker were all excitedly talking about their day. Takeru listened in a little to their conversations but in the end, he really didn’t have much to say. He went in, did his job and now they were heading back to the office for the day.

Still, it had been pretty fun, in its own way.

“Good work today, Takeru-kun,” the Producer smiled at him gently from across the aisle. “You really impressed the Director this episode. Both of you.”

Takeru looked over at his partner, head smashed against the bus window as he slept. His hair was a mess from tossing about and his brows were twitching in his sleep. Whatever he was dreaming about, he was none too happy about it.

“Ah, thanks…” he said softly, not taking his eyes off Ren. In truth, he was pretty jealous. Takeru put his all into the role; he did every time they walked onto set. There was no use in working if he wasn’t going at it with full strength. Everyone said over and over again that he was great for the character, and that he was doing a great job. But whatever Ren had summoned out there on the field, it had blown his efforts out of the water. It was frustrating, to say the least. But in the end, he couldn’t really bring himself to be mad about it.

_“And what’s the_ damn _point in proving I’m better than you if you’re not by my side?!”_

Takeru shook his head of the thought, remembering Ren’s voice as he shouted those lines. His gold eyes bore into him, intense and angry and searching. His voice sounded so heavy, and so loud. He only used the line for one take, but it felt burned into Takeru’s brain. And for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t shake it from his mind.

Ren turned in his sleep, shifting so that he was closer to Takeru, their shoulders touching. It was always like this. He was never a peaceful sleeper unless he had some kind of human contact pressed against him. It suited him, though. Always needing to be the center of attention, even while asleep. Takeru sighed and looked him over again, his facial features finally relaxing as he continued his nap.

He was handsome. Takeru had resigned himself to that fact a long time ago. He was an idol; he had to have _something_ going for him to get scouted. But at times like these, he looked almost delicate and unsure. Staring at him confused Takeru, if he were being honest. But at the same time, he couldn’t look away. Normally being around Ren was so easy. It was predictable. But right now, it felt different. Takeru’s stomach twisted around just looking at him, almost as if…

Without thinking, Takeru slapped Ren across the arm, hard and forceful. Ren woke from his sleep with a loud start. “What the _hell_ was that, Short-stuff?” He nearly screeched out, panting to catch himself from the shock. The rest of the bus was already staring at the two of them.

“You had a fly on you. I was just takin’ care of it,” Takeru shrugged in way of explanation, turning away from Ren to face the rest of the bus. Shiki was already getting back to his previous conversation, talking excitedly to Rei about some sort of comic he had read.

“What kind of excuse is that? If you want to fight, then just come at me! Don’t be an idiot who relies on sneak attacks!” Ren barked at him, grabbing Takeru by the shirt collar when the other wouldn’t respond. “Hey Dumbass, I’m talking to you! Turn around and face me!”

Takeru grunted irritably, but he couldn’t help be feel relieved. Whatever he had been thinking before, it was gone now, replaced only by familiar annoyance. And he couldn’t help but feel like he had dodged some kind of bullet. He turned around and glared at Ren, their foreheads almost instantly touching as they met each other’s eyes. “Yeah right. You ain’t even worth the effort of a sneak attack.”

It was so much easier to talk when Ren was around. Even if it was like this. Even if it was just the fires of frustration and irritation lighting him up, it felt nice to feel those flames. And as Michiru stepped across the aisle to pull the two apart, Takeru dimly recognized that he really wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://twitter.com/pompousspickle


	5. Jun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jun is tired.

It had been six whole days and Jun had assumed that Shiki had just forgotten about the whole ordeal. He had assumed that Shiki just bounced off to his next grand, unrealistic project and left everyone to their own business. He had hoped for it, anyway.

Really, he should have known better.

They were going over ideas for their next live in the club room. Shiki had been suspiciously quiet, staring out of a window with a furrowed expression on his face. The meeting was peaceful, almost, with the others making suggestions and then dismissing them in favor of something else. It was nice, if a little out of the ordinary. Jun looked at Shiki, head tilted in his hand as his brain visibly worked in overtime.

He didn’t really want to ask, but by now he knew if he didn’t, he’d be in for some kind of nasty surprise later. “Iseya-san, do you have something on your mind? I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve been unusually silent.” he asked as he gently cleared his throat, causing the young man to jump.

However, when Shiki looked back at Jun, his eyes were sparkling with nothing short of inspired mischief. “That’s it!” Shiki grinned from ear to ear, bolting from his seat and heading to the blackboard in the front of the club room. Jun could feel dread creeping through his veins. “We need more data!”

“Like…what kind of people listen to our music?” Hayato tilted his head, looking down at the notes they had gathered for the concert.

“No! Of course not. We’re going to knock that live out of the park! I’ve already gotten that all worked out with the Producer! I was texting him _all_ last night about my ideas!”

This was just getting worse and worse.

“No. We need more data on Ren-chi and Taku-chi! They have to have something in common, right? They’re in the same unit and they’re super extra talented fighters, and they’re super hyper good at dancing! Clearly they have to have more in common!”

The rest of the unit stared in disbelief. Jun just sighed. “Why can’t you just let this go?”

Shiki ignored him.

“So we are going to split into two groups of three! And then we’re going to follow the two around _all_ day until we find something the two have in common! And then we’ll reconvene and come up with a plan! I call it Ultra Super Cool Team Ninjas!”

“It’s stalking,” Jun was quick to supply. He took a moment to think it over, looking at the rest of the club. Haruna seemed to really be thinking about it, looking around the room as he counted heads, mouthing the numbers as he counted. Shiki had said two groups of three. There were five of them. And as much as Jun didn’t doubt that Shiki couldn’t correctly count, they all knew who the sixth was. At this point, it went without saying. Distantly, Jun wondered if this whole scheme was just some sort of convoluted excuse for Shiki to hang out with Kagura-san some more. At this point, he wouldn’t put anything past Shiki Iseya.

“Wait,” Haruna was the next to speak up, “All day? I’ve got to get to my job for at least some of that time.”

“Plus we can’t exactly skip class,” Hayato then added carefully, as though he were really thinking it over. Both of them seemed to actually be thinking about Shiki’s plan rather than outright dismissing it. Jun knew he shouldn’t be surprised at this point, but he still couldn’t help but feel amazed that they’d really want to do this.

“You raise good points!” Shiki grinned before spinning around to add some poorly written kanji to the blackboard.

_Operation Ultra Super Cool **After-school** Ninjas!! _

Jun just groaned, but Hayato gave a thumbs-up and Haruna responded with a reaffirming nod. Natsuki merely tilted his head, and Jun knew just enough to tell that even _he_ was thinking about going along with it.

This was hopeless. Ren was impossible to deal with. And Takeru was about as expressive as a brick wall. Chemistry aside, and regardless of their feelings for each other, the end result was practically predetermined. It was time to draw a line in the sand.

Jun stood up to look Shiki over.

“Iseya, this is ridiculous. I understand that you mean well but in the end, we have better ways we could be spending our time. Studying for classes, or going over our idol activities. But to stalk our coworkers after school is not only impractical, but an invasion of privacy!”

“Jun…” Natsuki tugged on the hem of Jun’s shirt gently, urging him down. Jun did his best to ignore him, looking around the rest of the room.

Everyone stared at him for a long moment, and the club room grew heavy and quiet in a way that it rarely felt. Shiki’s smile twitched, his eyebrows twisting upwards as he seemed to be fighting back tears. For whatever reason, this seemed to mean a lot to him. And to crush his goals and aspirations like that…

Jun only closed his eyes and sighed, long and hard. The outcome was predetermined. He knew that from the get go. There was no way this was going to turn out in their favor. But he supposed that in the end, he could always use it as a lesson as to why the group should be spending their time on more valuable pursuits.

“Fine.” He finally groaned, letting out a long breath. “On the condition that we spend the rest of this meeting _actually_ discussing our next live. Is that agreeable?”

Shiki’s grin was nearly blinding.

\---

As it turned out, Ren took time out of his day to feed a stray cat on the way to the production office. He reached into his sack and pulled out a handful of cat food. Jun couldn’t help but turn his nose up at the fact that the boy apparently didn’t store the food in a separate bag or container. “Does he have any shame whatsoever?” Jun hissed, more to himself than anyone else.

“Jun…” Natsuki warned as Haruna held a finger over his lips, hushing both of them. They hid behind a small set of bushes, and Jun was almost positive that their limbs were sticking out conspicuously. They had been following Ren for nearly 45 minutes and if he hadn’t noticed them by now, Jun was almost positive that a little bit of talking wasn’t going to clue the oaf in.

Still, Haruna seemed committed to this mission. He was wearing a black hood over his head and a surgeon’s mask over his face. Shiki had given them all the face masks for their mission, before splitting off with Hayato and Rei to trail Takeru. Jun didn’t see how it would help, so he decided to forgo wearing his. Besides, it got itchy after a while.

“You like that, dontcha King?” Ren laughed out loud as he scratched at the cat’s ears. The cat merely looked up at him with mild disinterest as he munched away on his meal. “You’re turning into a real fat-ass, you know that right? I bet none of the other dumb stray cats around would dare mess with you now!” Ren was hunched over, his red hoodie pulled over his head as he pet the cat with a small smile on his face. It was almost like he didn’t want anyone to see him like this, smiling and taking care of a poor lost animal.

Jun sighed. He supposed even people like Ren had to have their soft sides.

“Agent Panda!” he heard a harsh whisper from his left. “Agent Panda do you read? Over. This is Agent Donut. Over. We have a lead on the mission! Over.”

“You know you only have to save ‘over’, once, right?” Jun said, as Haruna talked frantically into a walkie-talkie with a severe expression on his face.

This time, it was both Natsuki _and_ Haruna who lifted a finger to their lips, hushing him as they waited for a response. Jun sighed again, looking over as Ren continued to pet and feed his stray cat.

“Agent Donut!” Shiki’s voice came booming in over the speaker, causing Ren to glance up for a second. Jun’s blood turned cold as he scuttled further behind the bush with the other two, despite himself.

“Keep it down!” Jun hissed into the walkie, glancing nervously to make sure Ren wasn’t getting up to investigate.

“Ah! Jun-chi! Did you guys find something! Takeru is doing some shopping. Looks like he’s buying cat food! I didn’t actually know he had a pet cat!”

“I don’t think he does,” a distant voice supplied. Hayato’s, if Jun heard correctly. The audio over the walkie-talkie was distorted at best. But they had insisted that it made the mission more ‘authentic’ than just using their cell-phones, like any rational human would do. “They don’t allow pets at Enjoji’s apartment. And Takeru-kun is almost never at his own place.”

The three on Team Ren exchanged a knowing look. Jun looked over at Ren, who was now gathering his things and getting ready to continue his walk over to the production office. There is no way it could be the same cat. That would be too much of a coincidence. Jun hardly believed in coincidences in the _best_ of times. Let alone that two emotionally troubled people could have stumbled upon the same stray cat and somehow taken to caring for it. While somehow unaware the other was doing the exact same thing. It was too on-the-nose. If anything, this data just meant the two were both cat lovers.

There was no way, statistically, that it was the same cat.

\---

It was the same cat.

As soon as Shiki and the others rounded the corner, Haruna jumped out of the bush and grabbed Hayato by the collar. “C’mere! And keep quiet, alright?!” He pulled Hayato in and Shiki was quick to follow, grabbing Rei’s wrist and pulling the young man in with them.

It was a small bit of shrubbery. And there was hardly room for all six of them. Not to mention, Jun and the others had been waiting for at least 30 minutes for Team Takeru to catch up. Ren was long gone, easily over at the production office by now. It was hot and sweaty and Jun was becoming more annoyed by the second. So having six bodies crammed into one space wasn’t exactly his idea of an enjoyable time.

“Heya, Champ,” Takeru crouched over and immediately started scratching at the cat’s chin, as the cat rubbed against Takeru’s legs expectantly. It was pretty obvious that the two of them visited this cat pretty often, judging by how open the stray was with both of them. “You’re gettin’ pretty big, ya know,” he started with a small smile, popping open a can of cat food. “You better start takin’ it easy. Buying this special diet food is gettin’ kinda expensive.”

“Are you sure it’s the same cat?” Hayato then whispered, peering out from the bush.

“We’ve been here for nearly an hour, watching the fat little thing waddle around.” Jun grunted. “Pretty sure it’s the same cat.”

“…it’s cute.” Natsuki noted with a small nod.

“I wonder how the two have never realized someone else is taking care of it, with how big the cat is getting…” Rei pondered, tilting his head just slightly to the side. “It seems odd, doesn’t it, Iseya-san?”

A beat, and Shiki still didn’t answer. Both Jun and Rei turned their attention over to the boy, and the rest of the group was soon to follow. “Iseya-san?”

Shiki was practically shaking, smiling ear to ear and eyes sparkling. “This is it…” he whispered at first, his voice escalating. “This is our CHANCE!”

Haruna was the first to grab at Shiki, shoving a hand over his mouth. Hayato and Rei both hushed him in a panic, looking around the bush to make sure they hadn’t been found out. Takeru glanced towards the bush, and even Jun felt his blood run cold. Maybe Takeru wasn’t as oblivious as his unit-mate after all.

“Quick! We can’t waste this super mega luck! Hayato-senpai, go stall for time!” Shiki said in a quick whisper. Before Hayato could even question what was going on, Shiki shoved at the boys back, pushing him forward until his stumbled from behind the bush.

“Wha-ow!” Hayato hissed out as he tried to regain his balance, landing on his knees.

“Akiyama-kun?” Takeru tilted his head, walking forward a little. Jun noticed how the boy glanced nervously back at the cat, as though being afraid of being found out. He supposed both of them were uncomfortable showing off their more caring side. “Are you alright?”

“I…uhh…” he glanced back as he stood up. He quickly mouthed for help, panic radiating in his eyes.

Jun heard Haruna sigh from next to him. The redhead pulled off his headband and shook his head a little. With a quick breath, Haruna bounced up from behind the push. “Ah! Found it!” He said, pulling up his headband and grinning. “Thanks for helping me look, Hayato-kun!” He put it back on his head and grinned. “Ah! Taiga-kun! What’s up?”

Jun rolled his eyes. For someone who was so bad at his studies, Haruna was certainly good under pressure. A shame so much of that talent was squandered when it came to his schoolwork.

“I was…” Takeru looked nervously around. “On my way to the office. Just walking, really.”

“I see…” Hayato stammered a little, glancing around. “Oh! I know! Mighty Super Punch 6 is coming out next week, right?”

“Ah…yeah, it is. I totally forgot.”

Takeru and Hayato continued their conversation about video games, both more awkward than usual. Haruna was trying his best to loosen things up, even suggesting the two meet up for a gaming marathon. But it was obvious both of them were trying desperately to hide something. It was getting pretty hard to watch.

“Iseya-san, are you alright?” Rei asked, hunching over to watch Shiki typing furiously away at his phone. The boy had not stopped giggling since this all started, clearly very pleased with himself. Jun only rolled his eyes.

Shiki wrapped his right arm around Rei’s shoulders. “Look at this!” he whispered, showing off the texts he’d been sending to Ren. “Ren’s going to come rushing in and they’ll bond over their shared cat! They’ll adopt him together and bam! Super happily ever after! Am I hyper genius or what?!”

“But Akiyama-san said there were no pets allowed at their apartment…” Rei tried, but Shiki clearly wasn’t listening. He just went back to happily typing away.

Jun didn’t even bother trying to look at the texts. He could already piece together what Shiki was saying to the other boy. Instead, he focused on the way Rei stiffened as Shiki dragged him closer, the violinist desperately trying to focus on _anything_ else.

Shiki seemed not to notice, but his fingers still drummed against Rei’s shoulder, excited to be in such close contact with the other boy. He looked back over to Hayato and Haruna, still stammering away while making their diversion. Natsuki was simply watching from behind the bush with a small smile on his face, enjoying the show.  

God, were all of his friends complete idiots?

“So yeah! We can meet up after work! I’ll text Kabuto-kun and Takajo-kun and see if they can make it!” Hayato grinned.

Takeru only nodded with a small smile. But before Takeru could say anything else, a loud voice was heard from around the corner. “Oy! Shortie! What the hell are you doing here?!”

Ren came running forward, eyes narrowed as he neared the area. Almost on instinct, Takeru spun around to meet his unit-mate, feet widening into a defensive stance. Already, they were ready to come to blows. Jun groaned and glared over at Shiki.

“It’s a sidewalk, Kizaki-kun. I’m allowed to walk here. What are you even doing here anyway? We’ve got work to do.”

Hayato and Haruna took a quick step back, sensing the bomb that was about to go off.

“Ha! As if I need to explain my genius motives to the likes of an idiot like you!” Ren scoffed, letting out a long laugh. But his eyes betrayed him, glancing down to a small bush on the side of the concrete, where the cat had made a small nest of shredded blankets. It was currently eating away happily at the tin of cat food that Takeru had laid down.

Hayato and Haruna took an even bigger step back. 

“Where the _hell_ did that tin of cat food come from?” Ren glared down at the food and then back up at Takeru. His eyes widened with rare realization. “No wonder Supreme King has been getting so damn fat, if someone other than me is feeding it! What kind of idiot would feed him when he’s _clearly_ already being taken care of?!”

He gently kicked the tin of cat food away from the cat. However, the cat merely just waddled over to where it had landed, continuing to eat.

Takeru’s eyes flashed with recognition, glancing down and then over to Ren. He took a step forward, “Supreme King? What kind of name is that? His name is _Champ_. And whatever food you’ve been feedin’ him is clearly garbage. I’ve been puttin’ him on special diet food and everything. And you’ve just been goin’ around ruining it?”

“Champ?!” Ren laughed, easily closing the distance between the two. He grabbed for Takeru’s collar. “That name is absolutely _idiotic_! Figures _you’d_ come up with it. But you better back off him from now on, got it Short-stuff?”

Takeru bristled, grabbing for Ren’s wrist and tightening his grip around it. “Make me, Moron.”

And just like that, they dissolved into fighting. Hayato looked over nervously at Haruna, who was quick to run back to the bush to meet up with the others. Hayato scrambled to follow. “This is bad,” Haruna laughed nervously. “I think we made it worse.”

“No kidding,” Jun sighed, wondering exactly what they _actually_ thought was going to happen. “Iseya, you’re the one who started this. It’s only fair you break them up.”

Shiki coughed, lurching forward in surprise. “Eh?! But I’m…Jun-chi is the scariest of the six of us. You might have the best luck…”

Jun only glared.

Shiki was quick to stand up from behind the bush and start running forward. He ran to Ren, letting out a strained laugh as he pulled the larger boy away from his unit mate, stammering out loud excuses to make them stop fighting.

“Ah…” Natsuki finally said, pointing at the ground. Jun looked up at him, tilting his head for explanation. “The cat ran away…”

Indeed, as Ren and Takeru brushed themselves off and glared at each other, the cat was nowhere to be found. Jun only sighed. This really was hopeless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay! Work has been crazy but I'm going to do my best to at least try for monthly updates, if not more. Once again, thank you for reading~


	6. Takeru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takeru feels things. He's not sure what kind of things he's feeling. But he's feeling them.

_“Round Three! Are you ready? Rock and roll!!”_

The next level of Mighty Super Punch 3 started up and both Daigo and Takeru started pounding away frantically at their controllers, trying to best the other’s score.  They had been at this for a couple of hours now, and they wanted to at least get through the third game before calling it a night. Takeru’s eyes were getting tired, if he were being honest with himself. And he couldn’t stop thinking about earlier that day. He had been taking care of Champ for months, and now he finally knew the reason why the cat was getting so large.

He frowned, turning his attention back to the screen. Run. Punch. Dodge. Punch. Punch. And then use the special attack. He smiled a little to himself as he beat Daigo to the next level-up item, knowing it would give him a real edge over the next boss.

Ren cared about that stupid cat too.

He shook the thought out of his head again. Next boss, he reminded himself.

He never took Ren to be the kind of guy to care about stray cats. Or animals in general. Or anything other than himself, really. But he seemed to actually care about the cat, despite calling him by that idiotic name. He seemed…

_“And what’s the_ damn _point in proving I’m better than you if you’re not by my side?!”_

Takeru groaned despite himself. It had been a week and he still couldn’t get it out of his head. The look in Ren’s eyes, the troubled intensity on his face. It was just an acting role. There was no reason for him to get so upset about it. Ren was just playing a character.

But the worst part was that Takeru was beginning to remember different parts of the scene. Like the way Ren’s hands grabbed for his clothes, desperately clinging onto him. It was as though he needed to be around Takeru. Like he couldn’t afford to let go. It was completely different from the way he grabbed for Takeru today, pulling at his shirt and ready to fight.

“ _Player One! Out of action! Start again?”_

Takeru hissed, realizing too late that his character had been knocked on their feet. He passed the remote over to Hayato. The series didn’t develop four-player co-op until the 4th game, so they just had to rotate turns for now. “Sorry ‘bout that,” he mumbled. “I’m probably gettin’ tired.” Both of them seemed to know it was a lie.

“No worries!” Hayato started up from where Takeru left off, with half the points. At this point, it would nearly be pointless to try to catch up with Daigo. “Something bothering you? You can talk to us!”

“Yeah! I mean, don’t get me wrong. It’s real nice to get such an easy win off of ya, but you’re totally off your game!” Daigo laughed, elbowing Takeru playfully before returning back to the screen. “After all, it’s no fun if you don’t put up a challenging fight!”

Takeru couldn’t help but smile. “You sound just like Ren,” he said, pausing as soon as he said it. He had no idea where that came from, or why he felt so fond saying it.

“Ah,” Hayato faltered, the character taking a hit on the screen. “Is it about earlier today?” His eyes shifted back to the screen, almost deliberately avoiding Takeru’s face.

“What? I’m missin’ something here,” Daigo asked, not looking away from the game at all. “Y’all get into another fight?”

Takeru ignored him, not really having the energy to fill him in. It was inconsequential anyway. They _did_ get into another fight. They were always getting into fights _._ “It’s not like matters. Dude’s just annoying as hell, is all.” That didn’t quite describe what was on Takeru’s mind, but he couldn’t really put words to it. He stared up at the ceiling as the other two played. “I don’t know; maybe I’m just jealous. I can’t stop thinking about the scene last week.”

Hayato froze, his hands pausing over the remote. He cleared his throat and looked back at the screen, this time _definitely_ avoiding Takeru’s face. “Yeah?”

“All that improvisation, I mean. I’m never going to back down. And I can’t lose to a guy like him, no matter what. But even giving it my all, I’m not sure I can summon what he summoned out there in the field.” He thought it over, wondering exactly _what_ emotion Ren had managed to get in touch with, and why it _still_ seemed to stick with Takeru.

“Oh come on! I wasn’t there, but don’t sell yourself short like that!” Daigo smiled encouragingly, nudging Takeru in the side.

“I guess,” Takeru finally agreed, his mind still stuck on Ren. “I just can’t figure the guy out. Like he just runs his mouth and ticks me off all day. And then he goes and…” He couldn’t quite find the words to describe what he wanted to say. “I don’t know. There are times I wonder what he’d be like if he weren’t so _annoying_. Like sometimes when he’s sleeping, he looks alm-“

“You watch him while he sleeps?” Hayato interrupted as he turned his head abruptly. The boss got an opening on his character, resulting in another game over. Daigo burst out laughing. He had this in the bag and all three of them knew it.

Takeru grabbed the remote, nearly ripping it from Hayato’s hands. He wasn’t going to go down without a fight. He started up the game again, determined to get his points back. “It’s not like that.”

“Hey!” Daigo shrugged with an amicable laugh. “No one can blame ya even if ya do. He’s real prett. ‘Specially when he doesn’t talk.”

“I will pay both of you to never talk about this again.” Takeru said, returning full focus to the screen. 

“Hey, nothing wrong with liking pretty guys!” Daigo said with a wide grin.

Takeru merely shoved his elbows into him, determined not to break contact with the screen. Daigo was just trying to toy with him. To throw him off his game. It wasn’t going to work this time. He wasn’t going to get flustered.

After all, since when did he get flustered over Ren Kizaki?

\---

After the bodyguards arrived to take Daigo home, Hayato insisted on walking Takeru to the bus stop. The ramen shop was just a few blocks away, and naturally the boy could defend himself fine. But he was still grateful enough for the company. Hayato grinned ear to ear and let out a long breath. “I had a lot of fun tonight! We should totally try to finish this weekend!”

Takeru nodded, not really sure what to add to the conversation. “Yeah, I think we can do that.”

There was a long and awkward pause between them, before Hayato spoke again. “Sorry about Daigo-kun. I guess I haven’t really updated him on anything that’s been going on between you two.”

Takeru shrugged, but he could feel his face heating up despite himself. “N-nothing’s been going on, really!” They both knew it was a lie, but he trusted Hayato to have the decency not to say anything. “I just don’t really know how to…explain it, I guess.” He wanted to pinpoint it better, but he really couldn’t put words to it. “My feelings just get all tangled up sometimes and I…”

“I get it,” Hayato laughed it off, rocking back on his heels. “I’m actually pretty jealous,” he then added, a little quietly. “When I get emotional, I can’t help but let it all out at once. I get all tangled up too, I guess. But then it comes out in the form of tears and I can’t really stop it.” He laughed again, but his voice was audibly shaking. “It’s pretty embarrassing, isn’t it?”

“Don’t say that!” Takeru said quickly, louder than intended. “It’s really not all it seems.”

He thought about live reviews and fan forums. He’d read them sometimes to get an idea of how people saw him, and to see who might be watching his performances. They called him stoic, strong-hearted, cool. Emotionless, robotic, stiff. Michiru always told him not to worry about it. And Ren…

Well he never really thought about what other people thought as long as Ren was around.

“I’d much rather be like you,” Takeru finally said, taking a long breath. He stared up at the lights hanging over the bus stop, insects buzzing around them in the late summer heat. “It’d be so much nicer to easily show what I’m feeling. Maybe I’d be able to express my…no,” he stopped himself, unsure of what he was about to say. “I mean, it’d be a lot easier to tell Ren exactly where to stick it!”

Hayato coughed awkwardly. “Wh-where to stick it?”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Takeru’s heart started pounding and his face was suddenly burning, from his neck to the tops of his ears.

Hayato only laughed.  “Well however you mean it, I’m rooting for you.”

Hayato’s smile was so big and so earnest, visible even under the dim street lights. Takeru wondered if he could one day learn to smile like that. “Thanks,” he finally said, giving a smile of his own. “It’s great to have someone that I can talk to. So thank you.”

Hayato nodded enthusiastically. “Let’s try again this weekend!” he then reiterated. “Maybe we can invite the rest of the club! Like a whole party! Make it a sleepover!”

Takeru thought it over. It seemed like a lot.  The entirety of High x Joker was a lot of people for one night of gaming. Still, the socialization could do him some good. He already felt a little more relaxed, less pent up. And more importantly, less hung up on Ren Kizaki. Maybe a sleepover could be good for him.

The bus pulled into the stop and Takeru nodded at his friend before getting on. “Yeah. That sounds like fun.”

“Great! We can invite Ren-kun too!” Hayato then added cheerfully, paling Takeru and wiping off his smile instantly.

He tried to protest, but the bus doors had already closed. The bus driver glanced at him impatiently, urging him to take a seat. Takeru glanced out the window at his friend, waving him off as the bus took off. There was something off, but Takeru couldn’t put his finger on it. Bringing Ren up in conversation, running out whenever Ren was present, and now inviting him to sleepovers?

Just what was that guy up to?


	7. Shiki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiki gets an idea. Rei does his best. Kei finally shows up for like half a second.

Shiki nearly came crashing into the production office, running full force through the door and bounding down the hall at top speed. He couldn’t help it. There was ultra mega important news and he _had_ to share it with Rei immediately. The other boy agreed to come to the office a little early, so who was he to keep him waiting?

“Iseya-san…are you alright?” Rei asked, looking up from a magazine as he watched Shiki fumble in, nearly hurtling into the sofa Rei was waiting on. He caught himself on the arm of another chair, steadying himself with a big grin. Rei started to stand up, perhaps to check on his friend. In response, Shiki pushed him back down. He was going to want to be sitting for this one.

“Tada!~” Shiki shouted as he pulled out his phone, causing Ken to look up from his desk with a concerned expression. Shiki gave a dismissive wave, laughing nervously as he tried to lower his voice again. He couldn’t help it; this was important.

Rei grabbed the phone gently and looked at the texts from Hayato. “A sleepover? With both…” he read along quietly, before nodding with understanding. “I see.” He nodded again, smiling encouragingly as he handed Shiki’s phone back to him. “That’s…that’s great news, Iseya-san!”

“RIGHT? It is, isn’t it! Hayato-senpai really is incredible!” He let out a loud sigh as he fell onto the couch next to Rei. Rei bounced a little as the cushions reverberated from the impact, falling into Shiki in the process, their arms pushed firmly together. Rei then scooted away from his friend, giving a proper amount of space between them.

Shiki frowned. He didn’t like that much at all, but he couldn’t quite place why. Something in his chest tightened and his brow furrowed. He scooted back closer to Rei, chasing away those strange melancholy feelings. He didn’t have time for that kind of negativity. “You have to come, of course! This is super duper important! It’s our chance to change _everything_!”

Rei paused for a long moment. “This Saturday, right?” His face flushed over, ashamed as he looked down at his lap. Finally, he looked back up. “I really do want to, you understand. But Tsuzuki-san and I have a live event that night. I’m sorry.” He looked at him with big shining blue eyes. His brow was twisted and he looked so regretful; but for some reason, Shiki couldn’t look away.

There was a long silence between them before Shiki came back into focus. He wasn’t thinking of much, really, just how blue Rei’s eyes were. He wasn’t even sure how long they were sitting there, how long he was just staring blankly at his friend. He shook his head, trying to remember exactly what it was they were talking about. He glanced back down at his phone. That’s right! The sleepover! “It’s fine, Rei-chi! We’ll just have to make up for lost time right now!”

“Right now?” Rei tilted his head a little in curiosity, and Shiki felt something else in his chest tighten. “How are we supposed to do that? Kizaki-san and Taiga-san aren’t here right now.” He glanced around the empty office nervously.

Shiki thought for a long moment, looking at Rei for some kind of inspiration. He was so pensive, and kind. His eyes were always searching and his brain always seemed to be thinking. Shiki couldn’t help but like a guy like that. He failed to see how _anyone_ could dislike him. He was just so cute and worked so hard to make friends. Shiki just wished he had the proper words to tell Rei just how great he was…

“I got it!” The idea suddenly popped in his head, Shiki standing up and running over to Ken’s desk. The secretary was now on the phone, talking quickly into the receiver while looking over a notebook frantically. Shiki paid him no mind; they had work to do after all. He grabbed some blank sheets of paper and two pens, rushing back over to their little couch and table. He slammed the paper onto the table and grinned ear to ear. “We’re going to write love letters!”

Rei blinked up at him several times. “L-love letters? Like…for Kizaki-san and Taiga-san?”

“Right! You got it! It’s going to be hyper good!” He sat back down, grabbing a sheet and scribbling down some words. “I’ll write one for Ren-chi! And you’ll write one for Taku-chi! And then we’ll leave them in the other’s locker! They’ll be super hyper surprised but they’ll _totally_ realize they’re in love with each other, after reading the words!”

Rei frowned for a moment. “Won’t they know that they didn’t write the letters? They’ll just ask the other if they wrote it before assum…no. They would never ask any questions, would they?” He sighed as he remembered exactly who they were talking about.

“Bingo!” Shiki snapped as he held up what he had so far.

_Dear Ren,_

_I super duper hyper mega like you! I’ve admired you forever! Please go out with me! Please please please!!_

“Ah…” Rei said, looking over Shiki’s shoulder and coughing lightly. “I suppose…it could…well…”

“You’re right. It needs work,” Shiki nodded, pulling out another sheet of paper. He had to take this seriously. He handed another sheet and the second pen over to Rei, smiling ear-to-ear before Rei nodded, all-too-seriously, and got to work.

Shiki sighed, crumpling up the old letter as he thought. What would Takeru even say? He hardly knew the guy. Hayato seemed to know him best and even then he still seemed like a big mystery. So maybe he should just write someone from his own heart. It’s not like Ren would likely be able to tell the difference if he made it generic enough.

But Shiki didn’t really know what it felt like to be in love with someone. He bit his lip and thought harder. If he were to ever confess to someone, he’d tell him everything he liked about that person, right? Maybe that was a good place to start. What kind of person would Shiki fall in love with? He let his mind mull it over. 

Someone understanding, of course. And loyal. Kind and persistent, even if they’ve gone through a lot. Someone who can face everything with a kind smile and walk forward with purpose. Someone who gives Shiki’s life purpose, and makes every day fun.

He looked over at Rei.

“I…” Shiki stood up, his heart suddenly hammering and his throat growing drier by the second. His head felt like everything was falling into place. But somehow, that only made everything more confusing. “I need to take a walk! Get my brainstorm juices flowing, yeah! Yay! Onward then!! You keep writing! I bet you’re gonna come up something mega good!!”

“I haven’t really even started…” Rei smiled awkwardly. “Do you want me to come with you?”

Shiki shook his head before his brain could even process the question. He normally would love Rei to tag along. He always got so excited whenever Rei invited himself _anywhere_. It was so rare for the boy to not feel like a burden to others. But this time, Rei coming with him seemed like the worst possible outcome, and he couldn’t figure out why. “I’m good! Thanks though! You got this!!” he realized he was nearly shouting, jogging lightly in place with pen and paper in hand.

“Right…” Rei said softly, brows furrowed in confusion. “Well…good luck then?”

And with that, Shiki was off, darting down the hall. He just needed a little space. Some inspiration for a proper confession. One that wasn’t so connected to…

He shook his head.

Rei needed a friend. Rei _was_ his friend. One of his very _best_ friends. He didn’t need to be thinking about writing love letters to him or confessing. He was supposed to be focusing on Takeru and Ren. He sighed. He was just confused, he told himself. He had his emotions all mixed up thanks to Operation Cupid. Once it was over, he could get them all sorted out again. He just needed to focus.

“Ah…yes. Yes I see.”

Shiki slowed in his steps as he heard the Producer, just ahead of him in the hallway. He was on the phone with someone, Ken close behind him with a nervous expression. Perhaps it had to do with the phone call from earlier, he dimly realized, feeling bad for not paying attention before.

Shiki pressed himself against the side of the hallway. Even though he was just a few feet away, there’s no way the Producer spotted him, right?

“Right. We’re very sorry to hear that, but we’re not cancelling the performance. We’ll just have to find new talent for the opening act. I’m sure we have someone on hand.” A long pause. “Okay. Thank you! We’ll make the live a success, I’m sure!”

As soon as he hung up the phone, the Producer looked up at Shiki, still pressed against the wall. Shiki sighed. So much for his spy tactics. “Iseya-kun!” He smiled gently as the boy peeled himself away awkwardly, laughing as the Producer looked him over. “Sorry you had to hear that. It seems the original act that was supposed to perform with High x Joker can’t make it. We’ll have to rework those plans you talked so passionately about. We’ll find a new group though. Once we find out which unit is free that weekend.”

Shiki paused. He and the Producer _had_ gone over the plans. And Shiki _was_ pretty excited. Jun even forced them to have that whole meeting about the plans for the concert. To have to rework them all from scratch with another unit would be…

“Amazing!!” Shiki then shouted, realization dawning on him. “Producer!! This is an amazing chance!” He bounded towards the man and Ken, throwing up a peace sign before grabbing the Producer’s hand. “Check to see if THE Kogadou can do it! Most their set filming has been weekdays, right? They can _totally_ make it! They never turn down work!”

Ken nodded a little. “You guys are pretty close, aren’t you? You went to their filming recently, right?”

Shiki nodded. “Just try it Producer! Pretty pretty pretty please?”

The Producer raised an eyebrow.

Shiki only smiled back, innocent and earnest.

“I’ll check and see. But I make no promises.” The man finally relented, pulling his hand away and taking out his cell-phone again. “Thank you for your contributions. I really do appreciate the dedication but you should probably go back and…”

“Roger! I’ll let you know when everyone else gets here for practice! Thank you SO mega much! It’s gonna be a super success I can feel it!!” Shiki nodded, more to himself than anyone else.

Before Ken or the Producer could say anything else, Shiki was bolting his way back to the lobby, wings on his heels. He could barely remember what had gotten him so worked up before. This was yet another great streak of luck. Between this and the sleepover, there was no way the plan could fail. He definitely had to tell…

He opened the door to the lobby and saw Rei.

The boy was still sitting there on the couch, writing diligently. His eyes were focused and firm, but he had a soft smile on his face as he dragged the pen across the page. He looked so serene, unguarded and unafraid. A lock of hair fell in front his face. Unconsciously, the boy tucked it behind his ear, with soft gentle fingers. Shiki hadn’t even run that far, but for some reason, he felt like his lungs had no air in them at all.

And he didn’t mind the feeling at all.

Shiki stepped closer, finally approaching his friend with a smile on his face. “Rei-chi,” he said in a gentle singsong, causing the boy to jump in surprise. “Ah! Sorry! You looked like you were working hard! I was working hard too, actually! I did some super mega cool stuff!”

Rei nodded with a smile, before glancing nervously at the page before him. “Did you write much?” he then asked, gently turning his own page to the back, covering all the words he had just written.

Shiki looked at his own page, still blank and now rumpled in all the excitement. “Oh…I mean…I’m sure I’ll think of something! What did you write, Rei-chi? I bet it’s super good!”

Before Rei could answer, however, Shiki grabbed for the page. Rei tried to grab back, hands shaking, but was far too slow. Shiki already rocketed back, out of the boys reach. His eyes quickly scanned over the page.

_Takeru,_

_I know it’s surprising, me writing you like this. But it’s hard for me to put my thoughts and emotions into words sometimes. Writing seems like my only real hope in conveying the things I want to say. It always has been that way. And even then, it’s so difficult for me to really get the words just right._

_Really, I just want to say that you really stand out to me. More than anyone else. You’re one of my first real friends. And to this day, you are the absolute most precious one. You’ve given so much to me through our friendship. I’m tired of just being friends though. I’m tired of calling you my friend. You mean more to me than that. More than anyone at school, or anyone in this company._

_You make facing each day a little easier, when you smile at me. You make everyone else seem less frightening, and more-trustworthy. Colors seem a little brighter when you’re with me. Even music seems to sound better. I’m not sure how you did it, but you did. And for that, I just want to sa-_

The note ended, mid-sentence.

“It’s not done yet,” Rei supplied. His voice was so small, his face so red. He looked down at his hands, his entire body trembling and his eyes glued downwards.

Shiki wanted to encourage him. He wanted to tell him that it was good. He wanted to say _something._ But reading this note just made him feel so dizzy. Weightless, even. Ren would never say anything like this. Not in a million years. And everyone knew it.

No. This was something Rei would say.

Shiki swallowed thickly, unable to keep from smiling but unsure of what he was smiling so much about. He took a step forward, trying to think of the words to say.

“A love letter? You doing the ol’ Fake Love Letter Exchange?” A familiar voice said from over Shiki’s shoulder, causing the boy to skyrocket into the air. Shiki looked over at Hayato and Haruna, both leaning over his shoulders and reading the note fervently. Haruna furrowed his brow as he tried to make out all the letters. “Can Ren even _read_ kanji? I don’t know what half of this stuff says.” 

“It’s really…it’s really sweet!” Hayato then exclaimed, grinning ear to ear, nodding enthusiastically. He wiped at his eyes just a little, though Shiki couldn’t see any tears forming just yet. “But I agree. It’s not really something Ren would say. It’s still…it’s really beautifully written!”

“Rei-chi wrote it!” Shiki nearly shouted out, his first words since he read it. His heart was hammering as he looked over at Rei, who had nearly sunken entirely into the couch in embarrassment. “It’s really super good, I promise!” His words felt rushed, even to his own ears.

Jun and Natsuki walked up, both glancing over the note themselves. Natsuki just nodded wordlessly, and Jun blinked several times, not even finishing reading before clearing his throat. “That’s fantastic. But I think we should probably tell the Producer that we’re all here now, no?” He smiled a little, more of a warning than anything else. “Ah, hello Kagura-san,” Jun then added with a polite smile.

Rei only nodded. “Sorry. I didn’t really know what to say. Ren is very hard to read, so I couldn’t really write from his perspective.”

Before anyone could say anything more, the lobby door opened again. Kei stepped in, smiling blithely as he stepped into the room. “Ah…Rei, I’m sorry I’m…” he looked around, glancing around the room. “Oh dear. I came to the wrong practice, didn’t I? This is all of High x Joker. I suppose I could go for a walk or…”

Rei stood up from his seat, sighing a little. “Tsuzuki-san, I’m right here. You’re actually a bit early still. But we can go to the vocal room for a while to warm up. In fact, I think...” he looked around the room, at every member of the club before his eyes rested on Shiki. Shiki couldn’t help but notice the way Rei’s fingers clenched and his face reddened as their eyes met. “I think some vocal exercises might be nice.”

Kei chuckled, his laugh melodic as he nodded, blithely motioning his unit-mate forward. “We can do that, but first we have to have a little fun, okay?” The two began to walk off together as Kei began to suggest different word games they could play before starting practice. Rei just sighed, glancing back at Shiki only once before walking down the hall.

“What was all that love letter stuff about?” Jun then asked, glancing over at the note still in Shiki’s hand. “Did Rei write that for you?”

Shiki laughed, a little too loudly, and far too forced. “Not for me, no! No! Not for me at all! We were just…practicing! Trying to write the perfect letter to get Taku-chi and Ren-chi to confess their feelings! We might need a different approach though.”

“I’ll say,” Haruna nodded. “The letter was cute but I definitely don’t think Ren or Takeru could have written it. Sounded like it really came from the heart, you know.” He finished with a small wink, and Shiki felt his face grow hot, praying he wasn’t as red as he felt.

Hayato nodded before leaning in to whisper to Shiki. “You know, I’m rooting for you two, as well.”

“Wha-what do you mean by that?!” Shiki then asked loudly, bristling at the very idea. What on earth did he mean? Rooting? For him? And…Rei? His breath felt shallow again.

But Hayato and the others were already leaving the lobby to look for the producer. “Come on,” Jun finally sighed. “We have work to do.”

Shiki nodded, watching them walk off for a moment before processing everything that just happened. He looked down at the letter. Perhaps it wasn’t written for him. Perhaps it was just something Rei came up with at the spur of the moment. But still, they were Rei’s words. Written by his own hand. And even if they weren’t written just for Shiki’s eyes…

Shiki folded up the letter and put it into his breast pocket. It didn’t matter. As long as he liked reading them, he’d keep those words with him for a while.


	8. Ren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Local dumbass goes to a sleepover.

Ren still wasn’t sure why he had agreed to come. At first, he had said no. Shiki started begging and pleading, literally on his knees, practically crying for Ren to show up. Ren scoffed at first, but finally the Ramen Guy had forced his hand. They had agreed to do a joint live with HighxJoker, with little time to prepare. Ren knew he could easily knock it out of the park, but Ramen Guy thought a little extra bonding with the other members could help.

“You two need to socialize more. Have some fun.”

Ren scoffed at the thought. He was great at having fun. And he was great at socializing. Which is why he was currently sitting on a beanbag chair in the corner of Hayato’s living room, arms crossed and talking to no one.

Shiki fell down next to him with a heavy sigh, sliding into the same beanbag chair as him. Shiki wrapped a casual arm around his friend, leaning back into the bag and staring at the ceiling. Ren liked the guy well enough. He had guts and wasn’t afraid to try new things. But something was off about him today. He was quieter, sighing more. Even in a room full of friends, Shiki seemed weirdly distant.

Ren shoved his elbow into his stomach. Not forcefully, but just enough to push the boy around. “Oy! What’s got you down?” Jabbing his friend seemed to be the only real answer Ren had. It always worked with Short-stuff, after all. He’d get moody and distant sometimes, but all Ren would have to do is shove him around and he’d perk right up, back to normal and ready to fight again.

Shiki, however, did not perk right up. “I can’t figure it out, Ren-chi!” He sighed again, voice louder. “I was super mega excited for today and I’m still having fun but-“

 “Moping because Kagura-kun couldn’t make it, huh?” A familiar voice finished before Shiki could finish.

Ren looked up and Haruna was leaning over them, smiling as cool and as casually as ever. Shiki immediately bristled, shooting up straight to his feet. “Th-that’s not…! No you SUPER got it wrong! I mean it would have been mega cool if Rei-chi could have made it but everyone else is here and that’s great too! Besides so many people _totally_ would have just made him uncomfortable.”

Ren couldn’t help but laugh. “Who cares? The three of us can all just hang out after the live! Problem solved.” He was pretty proud of himself; the answer was so obvious.

He could hear Short-stuff snort from the corner while he set up the TV with Hayato. Ren narrowed his eyes. That guy had no right snorting at _anything_ he had to say. And he was about to tell him as much when Haruna spoke up again. “I actually came over here for a reason though. Akiyama-san is almost done with dinner. She was hoping us three could help set the table, since we’re not doing anything.”

“Huh?!” Ren shot up immediately. “Why didn’t you say so earlier, Donuts? With my amazing skills, we’ll have dinner ready in no time! Shortie over there won’t even have the controllers connected before we’re halfway done with the first course. And I’m not sharing _any_ of it!” he said, practically shouting so that the twerp could hear him nice and clear.

“Who cares?” The blue-haired boy spat back. “I’m sure Akiyama-san made plenty for all of us. Not even _you_ could eat that much. Glutton.”

_Those_ were fighting words. Ren felt his blood boil in a way that only Shortie could make it. “What the _hell_ did you just call me?!” He started, walking briskly across the living room to close the distance between the two.

However before he could make it that far, someone threw his arms around his waist, tugging him backwards emphatically. “Hey! Come on, Ren-chi! You can play with Taku-chi after dinner! It smells SO good and I’m getting super hungry~!” Shiki said loudly, pulling him along. Ren could have fought back, but it was good to see his friend excited and back to his old self.

So instead, he merely let himself get dragged off, grunting in agreement. “Fine. But we’re not _playing_ ,” he finally added. He couldn’t have anyone thinking that fighting Short-stuff was _fun_ after all.

Because it definitely wasn’t. It wasn’t fun at _all_.

\---

Ren wasted absolutely no time digging into Hayato’s mother’s hot pot. He piled up his bowl, easily toppling over both Shiki and Hayato to get to his favorite meats. He was already going in for seconds when he felt Shortie grab his arm from next to him. “Oi! Watch it!” He shoved the arm off of him, shaking his rival as he moved closer to the bowl.

“Save some for everyone else,” Shortie grunted out, not giving up. He shoved the side of his body against Ren’s. Ren nearly snarled, not taking that likely. He pushed back with his own weight, trying to topple him over on the way to the pot.

“Cut it out,” Jun’s voice cut above the chatter from the rest of the table. “You’ll only spill the pot over with your pointless bickering. Akiyama-san made enough for everybody.” The boy calmly stood up and leaned over, pouring himself a small helping of seconds before sitting down again, placing his napkin neatly back in his lap.

Ren blinked in brief amazement. The guy had guts for talking to the great Ren Kizaki like that, and he had to respect that. Hayato’s mom only laughed as both he and Shortie helped themselves to seconds and sat back down, momentarily satisfied. “You can just call me Mio-san. Calling me by my family name just makes me feel so old. And I’m not old, right?” Her voice grew thin and the entire table was dead silent, shaking their heads with the fear that only a mother could instill. “Besides, you and Natsuki-kun were a big help in making dinner, Jun-kun. Don’t give me all the credit.”

Jun quieted down immediately as Natsuki smiled politely. In truth, Ren forgot that Natsuki was even there. But then again, he usually does until the guy bothers to speak up. The rest of the table prattled on about cooking. This was just the kind of useless rambling that Ramen Guy would do at the table too. Ren largely tuned it out. What really mattered were the _results_ of the cooking, after all. And the results were delicious.

He glanced over at Short-stuff to see if he was keeping up with the conversation at all. His unit mate was just sitting there, dutifully eating and watching the rest of the table in quiet respect, smiling as he watched Shiki and Hayato playfully fight over a large cut of beef. Haruna swept in, laughing as he grabbed the piece from Hayato’s chopsticks. Hayato lunged for him and wrestled for it back before Haruna tore it up, splitting it between the three of them. Ren huffed in disapproval. Haruna could have at least saved the biggest piece for himself, since he _did_ win after all. It’s what he would have done.

He glanced over at Short-stuff’s bowl to see if he got any big cuts like that. Maybe he could swoop in and grab more too, if he was quick. There were noodles scattered around his bowl, and broth seeping through the tablecloth here and there. He must have been eating rather quickly, because there was a mess all over the place. Ren barked out a laugh at the sight. “Oy! You’re making a mess Short-stuff!” He reached over and picked up a stray noodle, slurping it down in an instant. “If you keep making a mess, you’ll miss out on all the good stuff. And I’ll just have to eat it all for you!”

His rival just laughed and Ren snarled. “Like you’re one to talk,” Short-stuffed sighed and turned to face Ren, the two immediately face to face. “You’re making just as much of a mess. You ate your first bowl so quickly that you got onions all over your lap.”

“Eh? Taku-chi, why are you looking at his la-“ Shiki started before Jun elbowed him in the stomach, hard enough to make the other boy’s glasses skew off of his face as he sputtered broth over the table.

Only Ren wasn’t paying attention to any of that.

He scrambled to look down at his lap, brushing off the scraps onto the floor, covering his ground. How dare the guy call him out on something like that?! “That’s nothing!” He argued back, looking back up at Shortie, staring at him. Face to face. Right in front of him.

“You’ve got it on your chin too,” the boy said, his voice hushed, almost smiling as his eyes darted down to Ren’s chin. The tiny hint of a smile completely disappeared as his hand reached up for Ren’s face, thumb brushing over his lips as he brushed off another stray noodle. His eyes were wide, as if confused, and Ren found himself staring in amazement at the look on the Shortie’s face. He found his heart pounding as the rough pads of Shortie’s fingers brushed against his lips and chin. Ren’s brain was reeling. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to react when his genius mind seemed to be at a total loss for words?

He pushed his head forward and opened his mouth, promptly chomping his teeth down on Shortie’s fingers. The midget was already slapping him before his brain registered what he had done. He didn’t regret it though. Guy was out of line, looking at him like that, all soft-like. Who did he think he was?

And more importantly: why couldn’t Ren stop staring at lips? Even as he shoved back at his rival with a forceful push, he couldn’t stop staring at hi-

“ _Ahem_ ” Jun cleared his throat from across the table, and Ren broke free to pause to look at him. The entire table was staring at them, as though they were causing some sort of scene. Shortie was the first to break away from the contact, and Ren couldn’t help but feel a little victorious at that. After all, that meant that his rival was the first to give in, right?

Satisfied, they went back to their meal in relative peace. And Ren didn’t any mind to how the Shortie’s leg pressed against his own, and how natural and comfortable the closeness felt.

\---

“They’re pretty comfortable around each other,” Haruna said to Ren, offering him a donut from a bag he had brought from home.

Ren stuffed it in his mouth, already reaching for a second one. “Whmph?” He asked for clarification, spitting out crumbs across the floor as he, Haruna, Jun and Natsuki all played cards.

 

Shiki glanced up from his phone in interest, scooting closer to Ren and looking at Haruna intently. The redhead nodded towards Hayato and Short-stuff, playing their video game and laughing and arguing. Hayato had been winning for the last hour, completely dominating, much to Shortie’s chagrin. Not that Ren knew this. He wasn’t paying attention, he insisted to himself. They were just being really loud.

“Hayato and Takeru-kun,” Haruna explained, grabbing a card from the center deck and looking at it with a sigh of relief. “You were staring at them, Ren-kun,” he said with an easy smile.

Ren clenched his cards and began to stand up, his pulse picking up in his ears. His head was swimming at the absurdity of the thought. “Like _hell_ I was! I would _never_ be staring a-“

“Don’t ruin the cards Ren-chi! It’s Jun-chi’s turn! You don’t want him to get mad,” Shiki said, pushing Ren down and looking over his hand. “Here, let’s make the perfect play together.”

But instead of leaving it at that, Jun sighed in agreement. “You’re right though, Haruna. It’s nice to see the rest of the production company get along so well, even outside of our units.” He pulled out a card and frowned, looking over his hand with a furrowed bro. “Taiga-san doesn’t open up to many people, does he?”

Despite himself, Ren glanced back over at the two on the couch. Hayato nudged Takeru in the arm and laughed at something, and Takeru smiled back, small but still a nice. “Eh, Ren-chi likes seeing Taku-chi have fun too, huh?” Shiki finally said, leaning in and putting his chin on Ren’s shoulder. Ren didn’t even have to look at his friend to see the guy was smiling like an idiot. What did he know?

He opened his mouth to argue when Natsuki placed his cards down on the floor. “Ah….I won.”

The entire group groaned. That made five rounds now. The guy was completely unbeatable. Even a veritable genius like Ren was stumped, as much as he loathed to admit it.

“What?!” Shiki wasn’t even playing, but his shock was the loudest of them all, scooting back over to Jun and Natsuki as Jun gathered the deck to reshuffle it. “How’d you get so hyper good at playing cards Natsuki-chi?! Teach me! You gotta teach me!!”

Ren lost track of the conversation in seconds, his eyes drifting back over to the video game. He hadn’t ever played it, himself, but he was sure he’d be a natural. After-all, he was born with natural cat-like reflexes that made him a natural at that kind of thing.

“In truth,” Haruna spoke up again, pulling Ren from his musings. He was leaning back on his elbows and he tilted his head casually. But his voice was lowered to a near whisper, as though divulging some kind of secret. “I think I’m kind of jealous.” His smile was almost wistful as he looked at the two of them.

“Haah?!” Ren tilted his head as well, trying to put the pieces together. Why would he tell him something like this? “What’s there to be jealous of? Don’t tell me you’re jealous of shrimp like him!”

Haruna only chuckled before standing up. “That’s enough cards for me, I think. I’m going to start gathering up blankets and futons for the night. Wanna help show me the way, Leader?” He stretched a little and Hayato turned around from the couch, blinking and pausing the game as he registered the words.

“Oh right! Of course!” Hayato shook his head, trying to focus on something other than the game. “Does anyone want to take my place while we set up?”

Ren was already standing up when Shiki pushed into his back. “Ren-chi does!” He nearly shouted. “Don’t you?! You’re so totally hyper gonna win!!”

Ren blinked. He didn’t want to play necessarily, but he wasn’t going to pass up a chance to take down Shortie once again and prove his superiority in front of everyone else. “Of course I am!” He laughed loudly, wrapping his arm around Shiki confidently as he dragged his friend over to the couch. “Come on! Watch as the great and incredible me aces this game in ten seconds flat!”

\---

He did not ace the game in ten seconds flat.

Shortie snorted out a laugh as Ren pounded at the keys, grunting in frustration as he couldn’t get the character to jump onto the next platform. This game was clearly rigged unfairly. There was no way that a regular human could make a jump that high and the game knew it. Ren shot a glare at Short-stuff, but the midget only pointed at the screen. “Here. Try running back and beginning the jump right about here. The character jumps at an angle so you should be ab-“

“As if I’ll listen to you! I bet it took you months to figure out how to make this jump!” Ren laughed as he pulled the character backwards, beginning the jump a little sooner than he had been. He let out a loud whoop of victory when the little pixelated man landed on the next platform. “See? A genius like me can figure out anything with enough determination! It’s only natural!” He turned over to Shortie to grin, just to rub in his victory a little bit more.

When Ren turned back to the screen, a monster had swooped down and attacked his character, knocking him off the ledge.

Shiki let out a loud choking sound, and Ren threw the remote to the ground. It didn’t matter. He didn’t need some video game to prove that he was better than this twerp. He could beat him senseless any day of the week. He could beat him senseless _right here_ if the others weren’t around. And he’d beat him senseless as soon as they got back to Ramen Dude’s place.

Shortie picked up Ren’s controller, making a point to brush his shoulder against Ren’s. It was so offputtingly comfortable and familiar that Ren had no choice but to shove his own shoulder back, pushing Shortie off kilter. Ren only laughed. He couldn’t imagine what that weird donut-eating drummer was jealous of.

Sure, Shortie was pretty talented at some things, but he was nothing more than a worthy rival at best. He wasn’t too bad at acting. And he seemed to really like King, even if he called the cat by a stupid name. And he had a nice smile, if Ren _really_ thought about it. Soft, and small, but it was nice enough to look at if you cared about that kind of thing. And his lips…

He blinked. Why the hell was he back on that? “Give me that!” He finally said, shaking his head of those nonsensical thoughts. “You clearly gave me faulty advice!” He grabbed the remote and ignored Shortie reminding him that he said he didn’t take any advice. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. Not the feeling of Shortie pressed against him on the couch, or the softness of his thumb against his lips. None of it mattered at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bully Ren because I love him, I swear.


	9. Haruna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruna watches the others and notes how their group has changed.

“That was brilliant, Haruna-chi!” Shiki said as they all arrived for group practice. They only had a week left before their live with THE Kogadou, and they needed to get in as much group work as possible before the concert day. “Totally just like my ‘Make Him Jealous’ plan! Only totally hyper better! You’re really good at thinking on your feet!”

Haruna couldn’t help but laugh. In truth, he hadn’t really been thinking of Shiki’s operation at all. “You think so? Thanks, but I don’t really think it made Ren jealous. In fact, I don’t think he actually understood what I was talking about at all.”

“But…wasn’t Haruna…the love rival…in your original plan?” Natsuki tilted his head, thinking it over. Haruna sighed. Good at thinking on his feet or not, no one would believe something like that. He barely talked to either of them. Trying to make Ren jealous at all was an accident, let alone using Hayato as the catalyst. Still, it had done the job; Ren was crowding Takeru's space a lot more. They had even slept next to each other that night. Even if they woke up with Takeru’s hand gripped around Ren’s ponytail, and Ren’s knee in Takeru’s stomach.

Hayato only sighed and they all walked down the hall. “You really don’t think he’s mad? I don’t want Kizaki-kun to hate me.”

Haruna furrowed his brow at that. “No one could ever hate you," he finally said, his words a little softer than he had intended. But he meant every word. It was impossible to even mildly dislike the guy. And if anyone tried to start anything with him? Well they’d have to answer to Haruna first.

Hayato smiled at Haruna in relief, as though the thought had been nagging at him for hours. “Y-yeah? Thanks! I really want this live to be a success.”

Jun nodded along, a small smile on his face. “I don’t care about this whole Kizaki and Taiga business. But as we all keep being diligent, there’s no way we can fail.”

\---

Takeru and Ren wouldn’t stop fighting.

There was no surprise in this, really. Enjoji himself admitted that it was difficult to get through practices without the two of them bickering. Sometimes they would even exchange blows before getting back to dancing, he had told the other five as they argued in the distance.

They had started arguing about whether to go left or right during a dance break, this time. Haruna decided that now was as good a time as any to take a break for water. Despite the constant interruptions, everyone was still working hard, just like Jun had wanted. The keyboardist certainly wasn’t thrilled with the fighting, but they’d be ready to perform with the progress they were making. So Haruna imagined the guy wouldn’t exactly complain.

“Ah…you’re…having fun?” Natsuki came over and grabbed his own bottle.

Haruna tilted his head and thought about it. He was, of course. He pretty much always did. There was no use doing it if it wasn’t fun, after all. Natsuki had to be pointing it out for a reason then. He looked over at the others. Takeru and Ren lunged for each other, ready to take their argument to a more physical level. But this time instead of Michiru breaking it up as usual, Shiki and Hayato stepped in, grabbing for their respective friends and pulling them back.

Haruna smiled. They had all become pretty close, hadn’t they? “Yeah. I’m having a lot of fun. It’s cool to hang out with everyone. Taiga and Kizaki sure do keep things lively, don’t they?”

Natsuki nodded with an affirmative sound, a small smile on his lips. “And…Kagura-kun too…” he finally added, taking a long drink of his water.

Haruna blinked, a little in surprise. It made sense though. Rei and Natsuki were both quiet guys, and they both enjoyed playing violin. Their birthdays were pretty close too, right? It made some sense that Natsuki would make mention of him. Plus, thanks to Shiki, the boy _was_ around more often, wasn’t he?

He looked over at Shiki, who was laughing loudly as he talked to Hayato. Takeru and Ren had gone back to practicing their dance break, with Ren attempting new moves at almost every turn. Haruna wondered what exactly was going on between Shiki and Rei. He supposed it wasn’t his business, but the excitable singer seemed a lot more distracted lately. He was always glancing at his phone, sometimes nervously. And he was always touching his breast pocket, which now had a little sheet of paper sticking out of it. Regardless, it was nice to see everyone getting along and having fun. It was just weird to see their little group expanding the way it was.

Still, he definitely didn’t dislike it.

Hayato looked up from Shiki, smiling at Natsuki and Haruna. He waved at the boys, gesturing for them to come over. He looked so excited, so happy to be surrounded by so many of his friends.

No. Haruna didn’t dislike it at all.

But before he could make his way over to the others, a loud crashing noise broke up the practice. Immediately, Haruna turned towards Takeru and Ren. Takeru was grunting in pain, sprawled on the floor. Haruna nearly slipped as he ran forward to investigate, rushing over to the young man.

Michiru beat everyone else there, joining his two other unit mates “Takeru!” Michiru’s face was full of concern, reaching over to try to help him out. Takeru smacked his hand away, shaking his head as he attempted to stand on his own.

Another grunt. Takeru shifted left, and tumbled back down. Quickly, Ren grabbed his arm, yanking Takeru upwards to save him further falling damage. It was unconventional, but it worked, allowing Takeru time to shift back to the ground, sitting on the floor.

Haruna looked around, breaking focus away from the scene before him. Everyone was talking. Everyone was concerned. He could barely keep track of it all. They were asking questions all at once, before finally the dance instructor clapped his hands several times to silence everyone. He bent over, next to Michiru and Ren and looked over Takeru’s leg.

“I’m going to touch it now, so please let me know if it hurts,” the instructor said quietly as he moved his hands to press on Takeru’s legs. Both Shiki and Jun squatted down as well to get a better look. Everyone in the entire room was crowded around, and Haruna rocked back on his heels, wondering if there was any real way they could help.  

When the instructor’s hand reached Takeru’s ankle, the boy grunted softly, his eyes wincing over. Still, it wasn’t much of a sign, so the man pressed on, searching for any damage. But before he could continue further, Ren reached forward and grabbed the man by the wrist. “Quit it, _dumbass_ ,” he hissed. “You’re only making it worse!”

“Ren,” Michiru warned. “He’s just trying to help.”

“No,” Takeru spoke for the first time since the fall, hushing the entire room again. “He’s right. It hurts. It…it hurts like hell,” he winced again, grabbing for the ankle with his own hands, cradling it between his palms.

Haruna nodded to himself. That made sense. Takeru was not very good at expressing even his positive emotions, let alone signs of weakness. He supposed it made sense that Ren would have a better sense of the guy’s pain threshold than most people, given how much they fight.

Takeru cleared his throat, looking up at the rest of the group. “It wasn’t…” he paused, looking over at Ren briefly before turning away, embarrassed. “It wasn’t him. He didn’t…” Whatever had happened, Takeru clearly found it hard to say. But it was clear he didn’t want the blame put on Ren. “I was just trying to match his moves and I…I’m sorry.”

Ren looked away, face slowly turning red.

“It’s fine,” Michiru finally said, his voice a near whisper. Haruna needed to lean in to hear him. “We just want you to get better.”     

“We need to tell the Producer, and we should have a professional look at it.” Jun concluded, trying to sound resolute. But Haruna could hear the shakiness in his voice. Both Michiru and the instructor nodded in agreement, and Jun visibly relaxed as he turned towards the others.

Shiki, already on edge from the fall, jumped into action immediately. He grabbed for Jun, wrapping his arm around his shoulders. “Great idea, Jun-chi! We need to act mega quick before it gets any worse!! Hurry! Everyone, hurry!”

Haruna raised an eyebrow but before he could say anything, Jun peeled the other boy off. “It’s not going to get any worse,” he hissed, but then lowered his voice as he looked back over to the others. Michiru was talking with the instructor, and both Hayato and Ren were bent over Takeru.

“Natsuki-chi! Haruna-chi! Hayato-senpai!”

“Right!” Hayato shouted back with a firm nod before standing up. He said something quietly to his friend, giving his most encouraging smile. And Haruna couldn’t help but notice the careful look that Ren shot the guitarist as he walked away to join the others. It wasn’t malicious, but Haruna still was really beginning to regret confessing his own feelings to the other boy.

Still, Ren’s focus was back on Takeru in an instant. And as Shiki dragged the four of them off to find the Producer, Haruna couldn’t help but notice just how quiet Ren was being. He was just sitting there in silence, eyes trained carefully on Takeru, not trying to make fun of him or pick a fight at all. And if Haruna looked really carefully, he could almost make out a furrowed brow, and a soft frown. If he didn’t know better, he’d almost say that Ren was _worried_. But before he could think on it further, Hayato grabbed his arm and looked up at him. “Come on! We should help the others.”

And just like that, Haruna was out the door.


	10. Natsuki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsuki gets an idea

No one was sure if Takeru would be able to dance at the live. Everyone was in bad spirits because of it. Even Shiki was sitting around, with his head in his hands, asking over and over what they should do.

Natsuki had no idea what to do.

Jun had insisted on going off to buy supplies to help Takeru recover. But he didn’t want any help. Natsuki frowned. It wasn’t like him to outright go off on his own. He wondered what could be wrong, but he couldn’t think of anything.

“What should we do? We have to help SOMEHOW. There has to be something we can get him that will make Taku-chi feel super hyper max again!” Shiki groaned and rolled his head back, looking to the ceiling.

Haruna laughed. “I don’t think Taiga has _ever_ felt ‘super hyper max’ in his life. Not really his style.” He sighed though, leaning back in his chair. “Still, you’re right. It’s no good just sitting around. Any ideas, Leader?”

Hayato frowned, tilting his head as he thought it over. He sat there for a long moment. “Hmm…” he gave it more thought.

And more.

And then some more thought after that.

“No. I have no clue,” Hayato finally confessed with a big sigh of his own. The other two only groaned. Hayato really did know Takeru best out of everyone. Well, everyone except Ren. But Natsuki suspected it would be hard to ask him for help.

“The cat,” Natsuki finally concluded. The three other boys looked up at him, startled by his sudden revelation. He blinked, trying think of how to word his train of thought. “They…like that stray cat…if we catch it for him…”

Surely bringing the company a new pet would make everyone a lot happier. Plus it was a nice cat. Soft and round and likable.

Jun loved cats too, even if he didn’t always want to show it. It would definitely make him smile as well. Natsuki was sure of it.

Shiki gasped, a grin growing ear to ear. “Natsuki-chi! That’s brilliant! We’ll totally set a trap and then…” the boy made some swooping motions with his hands, before posing like a superhero. “Boom! We’ll capture the ultra-fluffy beast for Taku-chi to cuddle with until he gets all better! You’re a genius! This is a perfect plan!” 

“…it is?” Natsuki brightened, lips quirking upward a little bit. He looked over at Haruna and Hayato for confirmation, and both of them nodded. That was nice. It was good to see them smiling again. Now they just needed to make the others smile as well.

And with the four of them together, they could definitely be the ones to do it. Natsuki was sure of it.


	11. Jun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jun asks a question

In truth, Jun felt pretty bad about leaving the other four out of his shopping trip. But there were plenty of reasons he needed to do it. Shiki would always goof off and run on ahead of the others. Haruna would always insist on stopping a new sweets shop. And Hayato would always get distracted by some kind of novelty store or another. It was almost impossible to get things done with everyone around. He supposed he could have invited Natsuki, but it did him good to hang out with the others from time to time.

Besides, the real reason he needed to go alone was so he could talk to Rei.

He looked over at the boy, who was walking next to him quietly, on the lookout for something that might make speed along Takeru’s recovery a bit more. They already had accumulated a bag of snacks and magazines, bought with money given to them by the rest of the production company. Still, Rei thought it would be nice to buy something just from High x Joker, and Jun was inclined to agree.

“Perhaps some sort of handheld game? I’m not really sure what Taiga-san has already played, but if he’s going to be stuck indoors while he recovers, it might as well be with something that interests him somehow, right?” Rei offered Jun a small smile, thought he looked pretty unsure of himself as he said it.

Jun hummed and took out his phone. “It’s not a bad idea! I can text Hayato and see if he has any suggestions. Knowing those four, they’re probably spinning their wheels trying to come up with something.” He paused, stricken with a slight thought of horror. “Unless, of course, Shiki has already come up with some half-witted plan to cheer Takeru up.”

He turned back to his phone, now texting with more urgency to make sure everything was okay on their end, and that they haven’t gone off to do something brash and astronomically stupid.

To his surprise, however, Rei only laughed. “That does sound like Iseya-san, doesn’t it?”

Jun paused. This was his chance; the whole reason he had messaged Rei to come out and meet him for shopping. Part of it was to be with someone who was a lot calmer and easier to talk to than his unit mates. But the other reason…

“You really like him, huh?”

Rei immediately dropped the bag of convenience store snacks that he was holding, his face flushed over and his eyes in a panic. Both boys quickly bent over to pick everything up. It didn’t look like anything had been crushed or damaged, thankfully. They scooped everything back into the bag.

“It’s not a big deal,” Jun finally said, gently. “I promise I won’t tell him. I just…” he wrinkled up his nose as he tried to think of a good way to ask this. “I just wonder what a sensible guy like you sees in…well…Shiki”

He half expected Rei to get insulted, or even laugh at him. But instead, the boy only narrowed his eyes in thought, really giving the question a lot of consideration. He finally closed his eyes for a second, taking a small breath. “I suppose it is pretty odd, looking at us.” He smiled softly as he thought more and more about the boy. It was actually pretty sweet, Jun thought with a sigh. “I guess a lot of it is because he reminds me of a golden retriever.”

That was not the answer Jun expected.

This time, it was his turn to stumble over mid-step. “Like a _dog_?” He looked over at the boy incredulously.

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way!” Rei shook his head, his normally pristine hair flying across his face as he tried desperately to back pedal. “He’s just…always so energetic and friendly. Sometimes he’s over-eager, and doesn’t always understand personal space. But he’s always willing to help, and only ever asks for acceptance and friendship in return.” Rei’s voice grew distance as he began to think on it, getting lost in his own thoughts.

Jun nodded. “I see what you’re getting at. He’s pretty reliable, when it comes down to it,” he relented. Though, Shiki could certainly use a big more training, as far as dogs go.

Rei nodded. “He’s surprisingly intelligent too, in his own way.”

Jun frowned, not knowing if he would go _that_ far.

Rei only smiled, understanding immediately. He swung his bag of goods just a little bit as they walked. “You know though,” he said, tilting his head thoughtfully. “More than anything, I’m pretty grateful. If not for Iseya-san, I would have never been able to become friends with everyone here in the production. Tsuzuki-san was the only one I could talk to comfortably, before Iseya-san helped me learn how to open up. Without him by my side, I would have never been able to be friends with you, Fuyumi-san.”

Jun smiled. “You really don’t need to call me all that. You can call me Jun, if that’s alright.”

Rei smiled in return, nodding graciously. It was good to be considered a friend, he realized. And somewhere down the line, he had come to consider Rei a friend in turn. Being an idol had its ups and downs, and sometimes he wondered about the point in all of it. And more than once, he criticized Shiki’s idealizations of making friends. But walking around town with Rei Kagura, he began to understand the appeal of it all.

Rei stopped suddenly, causing Jun to halt in his tracks. “Ah!” Rei pointed at the window of a small game shop, where a bunch of colorful pictures and cardboard stands stood in the window. “That’s the game Taiga-san and Akiyama-san have been talking about, right?”

Jun was amazed that Rei remembered that. But he was right, thinking back on it. They had been playing the old games all sleepover in preparation. Jun nodded, catching Rei’s drift. “I imagine he already has it on preorder but…” he pondered, looking at the signs in the window. “Ah! It looks like this shop has an exclusive phone strap that comes with an in-game code.”

He turned around to look at Rei, who was smiling softly. He gave an enthusiastic nod, and Jun couldn’t help but nod in return. This really was quite fun, spending time with people that he normally didn’t hang out with.

Rei started inside, looking back at him. “Great thinking! Thank you, Fuyu-I mean Jun.”

“You know, maybe Shiki would like to be referred to by his first name too. He…” he said, feeling a little flustered at the mere suggestion. “He seems like the kind of guy that would like that kind of familiarity.” Jun added with a sigh. Even if he didn’t still totally understand Rei’s crush, he was happy that it gave him the opportunity to make all kinds of new friends. They would have never hung out like this otherwise. He really did owe Shiki that much.

“Y-you think so?” Rei blinked, taken a bit aback by the suggestion. “I’ll do my best to try that. Thank you again. I’m glad you invited me out.”

Jun followed Rei into the game stop, agreeing happily. Rei certainly was a bit socially awkward, but he was working hard to overcome it. And if there was one thing Jun could appreciate, was hard work. Just like how everyone was working hard to speed along Takeru’s recovery for the live. Between this and whatever Shiki and the others had planned, their live would surely be a success.

\---

He and Rei arrived at Natsuki’s house a few hours later, after agreeing to meet everyone there. Jun pulled out the spare key Natsuki’s mother had given him, and opened the door. Rei followed shortly behind, carrying the supplies for the care package they all resolved to put together.

In the middle of the living room, sat the other four, empty-handed and covered in cat scratches. Natsuki dabbed a little bit of rubbing alcohol on Shiki’s wounds, and the other boy howled out in pain at the stinging sensation.

Jun only sighed.


	12. Michiru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michiru looks after his boys.

Takeru wasn’t eating.

Michiru frowned, watching the two of them from his arm chair. Takeru had been sitting on the couch on and off for hours, ever since the doctor told him he’d likely have to sit the show out. He had tried to attend practice anyway, despite the pain. But when the Producer turned him away, the boy shut down. Ren hadn’t said a word on the matter. He continued his dance lessons and vocal work as though nothing had changed. He still spoke loudly, proudly, and moved with purpose. As though he didn’t feel Takeru’s absence at all.

At the apartment, it was an entirely different story.

“Fine. You don’t want it, I’m helping myself!”  Ren started to grab for the bowl of ramen sitting on the coffee table in front of the TV. His hand paused, as though expecting Takeru to stop him and fight back. He glanced over at his rival, before back to the bowl. He blinked, unsure of what to do. This had never happened before. Usually Takeru would lunge for the bowl, insisting that he was fine and that he wanted the rest of his dinner.

Ren grabbed for the bowl, slowly pulling it into his lap as he sat on the couch. “This is the perfect meal for the Great Me. Eating a second bowl will be a piece of cake, of course!” He barked out a haughty laugh, but Michiru didn’t miss the way his eyes quickly darted over to Takeru, waiting for a response.

Takeru simply stared at the TV, hammering away mindlessly at a video game.

Ren shoveled the noodles into his mouth silently, staring at Takeru the entire time. His brow was furrowed, trying to piece together why Takeru wasn’t stopping him. Still, he wasn’t concerned enough to actually stop eating his unit mate’s dinner.

They continued like this in unusual silence. Michiru turned his attention back down to the magazine article he had been reading, fascinated about the different handicrafts the magazine offered. He looked up again a few minutes later, only to see Ren finishing up the bowl of ramen with a loud smacking sound, making sure the entire room was aware.

Takeru still didn’t so much as turn his head.

Ren leaned over from his seat, using his chopsticks to poke the boy sitting next to him. “Oy,” he said, jabbing them into the boy’s cheek. “ _Oyyy_!” he tried again when didn’t get a response, louder and more forcefully. “I just finished _two_ massive bowls of Ramen Guy’s noodles in one sitting and you didn’t even _look!_ What’re you? Jealous or something? I bet you could _never_ top that breakneck noodle-eating speed! That’s gotta be it. You’re totally jealous! _Oy_ Shortie! You listening?”

“No.”

“You totally are! You can’t fool a genius like me!” Ren leaned in again, trying to stare Takeru in the eyes. He bumped his head against the other boy’s temple, to no avail. Michiru frowned, wondering how he could possibly hope to help if even _Ren_ couldn’t rile the boy up to normal. Takeru merely gave a halfhearted shove, pushing his partner away from him. Ren brightened immediately, shoving back with much more force, ready and eager to pick a fight.

Takeru didn’t push back. Ren tried pushing at him again, only for Takeru to turn around, eyes stern and sleepless. “You don’t get it. You _never get it_.” He bit out bitterly, grabbing Ren’s wrist for a quick moment before dropping his arm.

Michiru folded up his magazine and placed it to the side, watching the two carefully, wondering if he should interfere. Oftentimes, Takeru would take criticism too hard, or push himself to his limits. Michiru’s efforts to cheer him up were never in vain, and Takeru always appreciated them. But there was nothing quite as effective as Ren’s ability to push Takeru back into shape, often by force.

But now, it was different. Ren glared at Takeru, holding his arm like a wounded animal. And Takeru merely clicked his tongue and went back to his video game silently. Michiru swallowed thickly. “Is this about the live?” He finally asked, after wanting to say something for hours.

Takeru silently nodded, glancing over at Michiru with only his eyes.

“Haah? That’s all?!” Ren tilted his head in disbelief. He leaned back into the couch with a defeated slump. Michiru smirked. The boy really was worried, despite himself. “Man I thought _for sure_ you were jealous. But getting all worked up over some live? Psh.”

The dam finally gave way, and Takeru put down the remote.

“What are you saying?!” He glared at Ren. Takeru’s voice had escalated in volume, his shoulders trembling in anger. Michiru shifted in his seat, ready to step in if need-be. “If it were you, you’d _never_ stop whining. You _hate_ missing work. You constantly parade around acting like it’s nothing, like you can accomplish any task in no time. But then you carry around your scripts and read them constantly. You are always coming up with new dance moves. You’re always trying to raise your limits, no matter the costs. You could drop at any minute from pushing yourself too hard. But the second _I_ push myself too hard, it’s suddenly stupid? Give me a _break_ , Kizaki.”

Michiru hissed. He wasn’t wrong, but it was harsh. He often watched the two, concerned that their efforts might push them over the edge someday. Michiru never went about things halfheartedly, but he knew when to quit when the stress became too much. It was up to him to draw the other two back, to make sure they didn’t overexert themselves either. This time, he had failed them. And even making Takeru’s favorite bowl of ramen wasn’t helping. He had no idea what to say.

And judging by his stunned silence, neither did Ren.

“You know as well as I do that there is no such thing as ‘just some live’,” he added, his voice quieter now. Much quieter. He looked away from Ren, towards where Michiru was sitting. They made brief eye-contact before Takeru looked away from him too, his breath shallow as he shook out his next words. “Anything can happen during the lives. Anyone could be watching. And maybe this one…maybe they would be at this one.”

Michiru sucked in a breath. He had some idea of what Takeru meant, of course. He knew that the boy always searched, every show, for siblings that he had somehow lost years ago. But that’s all he really knew. Takeru never really wanted to talk about it. He had been able to piece most of it together, from what little bit he heard from Takeru and the Producer. But that didn’t mean that Ren was ever paying attention, let alone intuitive enough to figure it out.

“So that’s it?” Ren let out a small laugh, sitting up straight and looking over at Takeru, staring at him even as Takeru avoiding eye-contact. “Well that’s easy. Just wear a disguise to the show! You can search from inside the crowd. And then my super hawk-like vision will be able to spot them from above on stage. Plus, if they’re as short as you, Ramen-Guy’s height will help to keep an extra eye-out too. See? Easy.” He nodded, as though his genius plan were completely fool-proof.

But in an instant, that cocky little smile faded, giving way to something softer. He looked over Takeru, his voice so hushed that Michiru could barely hear it. “Come on. You’re no good to me if you give up fighting.”

Both Takeru and Michiru stared in amazement. As it turned out, Ren had been paying _very_ close attention. He had heard every word, caught every sign. When it was someone he cared about, Ren apparently noticed everything. Michiru couldn’t help but chuckle before piping in. “Besides, the doctor only said you can’t dance, right? After a bit of rest, we might able to get you cleared for a least a couple of numbers. We can get you up on that stage, one way or another.”

Finally, after hours of tireless efforts, Takeru smiled. “You’re right. I’m sorry Enjoji-san. I’m being ridiculous, aren’t I?”

Ren snorted loudly, and Takeru shot him a combative glare. “I didn’t ask _you_ ,” he said firmly, sparking Ren to scoot closer to the other boy. Within an instant, the two were bumping heads, nose to nose as they stared daggers into each other. Michiru stood up from his seat, ready to break them up from fighting. But before he could make his way over to them, Takeru’s stomach let out a loud, shaking rumble.

Both boys sat back, Takeru taking a moment to look down at his stomach, his face turning bright pink. Ren barked out a loud laugh, breaking apart the awkward moment. Michiru was next to start laughing, leaning downward to grab the two empty bowls of ramen. Finally, Takeru laughed as well, with a small smile on his lips. “Looks like I have work to do,” Michiru said with a nod as he stacked the bowls. “I’ll be back with something special, for both of you. You need to eat your fill if you want to recover before the live!”

Takeru nodded, smiling at the man softly in thanks. Michiru couldn’t help but smile in kind, relieved that he was feeling better already. He couldn’t do much when Takeru lost himself to his own failings, but he could make sure the boy was taken care of and well-fed. It wasn’t all that Ren seemed to do, but it was enough.

Ren pushed against Takeru, trying to get at his game controller for a turn. Takeru yanked it away, insisting the boy would only ruin his game file if he even tried. The bickering continued, and things felt almost normal. Takeru’s ankle was still bandaged, and his pride still seemed wounded. But he was talking, he was willing to eat, and he was biting back a smile as Ren tried to fight him for the controller.

Things were as they should be. And his little family continued. Michiru couldn’t ask for anything better than that.

\---

A few hours later, and someone was knocking incessantly on the apartment door. Michiru blinked in surprise, his mind reeling over who it could be. Despite the boys constantly causing noise, Michiru was pretty respectful to his neighbors, and they almost never received complaints. His next thought went to the ramen shop below. His brain cycled quickly through hundreds of things that could be wrong with the store, and his heart picked up pace. He placed the bowl he was washing down, barely wiping his hands clean before running over to the apartment door, swinging it open. 

“Enjoji-san! Is Taku-chi here? We brought gifts!”

Standing on the other side were all five members of High x Joker and Rei Kagura. Shiki was carrying a large gift bag, with “Get well soon” written on it in big sloppy handwriting. Michiru grinned ear to ear at the gesture. But sadly, he couldn’t exactly open up the door for them.  

“Ah! Everyone’s here! It’s great to see you all.” He wasn’t lying; Ren and Takeru were good-hearted kids, but they were both socially awkward in their own right. Michiru didn’t know them before they had joined 315, but he suspected that they didn’t have very many friends outside of the production company. Watching them open up and meet more and more people has been an honor. And to have them all standing before him, eager and smiling, was tugging on Michiru’s heartstrings.

“They’re both here,” he finally explained, quickly sighing as he looked behind him towards the living room. Shiki was the first one to take a step forward, eager to see them, but Michiru was quick to step in the middle of his path, biting his lip awkwardly. “It’s been a really long day for all three of us. I think a little bit of rest is in order.”

Both Jun and Rei nodded their heads in understanding. “I see,” Jun spoke up, giving an apologetic little smile. “It would have been nice to present Taiga-san with the gifts we picked out. But please just send him our bes-“

“Is Takeru-kun okay?” Hayato asked, tilting his head to crane inside of the apartment. “We tried to text first but no one was answering. So we decided to drop by. But if he’s not doing any better…”

Michiru sighed. None of them were playing fair. It was hard to resist that kind of sincerity and youthful energy. He stepped to the side with a defeated bow. “He’s doing much better. Here, you all can come in. As long as you’re quiet.”

All six of them nodded as they passed through. The silence lasted all of five seconds as they entered the living room area. Shiki let out a loud gasp, and Jun immediately chopped the boy on the head. “Shut up!” He nearly shouted, trying to get him to calm down.

“Jun…” Natsuki warned softly, before the other boy remembered himself and immediately quieted himself.  

Takeru was the first to wake up from his nap on the couch, stirred on by the commotion. A “game over” message blared on the TV screen, and the music of the game hummed quietly in the background. Takeru gently pushed off the blanket that Michiru had thrown over the boys after they drifted off to sleep. He blinked to awareness, staring at his friends surrounding the couch.

Haruna was the first to say something, smiling warmly as he helped take the blanket off. “Mornin’, sleepyhead. Sorry for waking you, but our Leader here tried texting and you didn’t respond.”

Hayato laughed to confirm, running his fingers through his hair awkwardly. “I guess I got a little concerned,” he admittedly, quietly.

Takeru looked around the room, furrowing his brow as his sleep-addled brain tried to take it all in. He glanced down at the bag, complete with a little card signed by everyone. The card had crude stick figures of everyone drawn on it, all gathered around a small Takeru, complete with his foot in a cast. He looked up at everyone, before smiling. “Thank you, everyone,” he said, his voice nearly a whisper.

Michiru sighed in relief, glad he took it all well. The boys all began to chatter quietly amongst themselves as Takeru reached for the bag. Michiru stood back and watched, slowly heading back to the kitchen to finish his cleaning. He did, however, find it curious that no one said anything about Ren, still fast asleep, nestled underneath Takeru’s arm. Nor did they say anything of Takeru, carefully running his hand through the other boy’s silver hair.


	13. Shiki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiki gets a visitor backstage.

There was so much excitement in the air that Shiki could hardly stand it. It was always this way right before a live, and he _never_ got tired of it. He could do it a million times and it would still thrill him just as much as the first time.

Takeru had been cleared for his solo song and the two big group numbers, and everyone was scrambling to fit in some last minute practice to accommodate. Michiru wouldn’t stop checking on Takeru, just to make sure he was okay, and the boy was clearly getting a little impatient because of it. The Producer ended up calling Michiru to the backstage area to help do some heavy-lifting before the show. But everyone suspected it was just to get him to stop doting on Takeru constantly.

Still, Takeru was on-edge. Everything Ren said or did set him off, spurring them into arguing over everything. They argued over the stage directions. They argued over what they should say during the free-talk. And now, they were arguing over the last sticky bun left on the catering tray.

“I’m doing more dance numbers! Clearly I need all the energy I can get!” Ren started to lunge for it at the same time as Takeru. Before either of them could get to it though, both Hayato and Haruna jumped forward and tugged on their arms, pulling them back.

“Hey hey! Careful tough guys,” Haruna laughed casually. “You’re going to knock over the tables if you keep it up! And then there won’t be anything left for anyone.”

Hayato nodded in agreement. “Right! And the Producer had donuts special-ordered just for us. So we wouldn’t want to waste them. Right, Haruna?”

Haruna laughed, moving off of Ren with a slight blush on his face. “Hey now, the donuts were just a suggestion! Don’t make it sound like he wasted a bunch of effort on me.” He clearly wasn’t insulted though, a smile still on his face as he spoke.

Still, Hayato tried to backpedal, apologizing immediately. As they talked, Ren and Takeru quickly went back to arguing, stepping into each other’s personal space. Jun grunted loudly, closing his eyes as he tried to block them all out, attempting desperately to focus before the show went live.

Natsuki approached the table, looking down at the tray. “Ah…there’s one left.” He said, pointing to the sticky bun. He looked down at his empty plate, and then over to both Ren and Takeru, blinking slowly.

Takeru relaxed his shoulders in defeat. “Sure. You can have it,” he finally said politely, with a small smile.

Ren opened his mouth to protest, but shut it again as soon as Natsuki smiled gratefully and went to grab it. “Thank you,” he said, sincerity radiating off of him as Ren pouted with a huff.

Shiki grinned, practically shaking with it all. He stretched his limbs out, getting ready for one more round of practice before heading on stage. Everyone was having such a mega good time. It looked like they were all just as motivated as he was. Even just watching it made him vibrate with excitement.

“It looks like you’re having fun,” a soft, familiar voice said from behind him, and Shiki nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned around, heart pounding and praying that he had heard correctly.

Indeed, Rei was standing right in front of him, blinking at Shiki’s startled expression. He bowed twice, embarrassed. “Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to take you off guard! I just…Tsuzuki-san and I had nothing going on today, and I wanted…” he trailed off, “ _We_ wanted to see the show. I wanted to support everyone. My friends,” he finally added, glancing over at everyone.

Shiki couldn’t take it. This was truly the icing on the cake. He lunged forward, taking the smaller boy into his arms. “Rei-chi!!” He shook his head, rubbing his cheek against the other boy’s hair. It felt so soft, and he smelled so nice. His heart was hammering in his chest, pausing in his embrace as he took it all in. He could stay like this forever.

Finally, he stepped back, keeping his hands on Rei’s shoulders as he looked at him with a big grin. “Thanks so hyper mega much! With you here watching us, things are going to go super _extra_ mega well! I can just _feel_ it!”

Rei blinked again, shocked by all the contact. Finally, he smiled, nodding his head once before suddenly remembering something, stepping out of Shiki’s grasp. He searched his pockets briefly, before sinking in defeat. “That’s right! Tzuzuki-san said that I should bring a good luck charm or something. I found a cute clover charm at a convenience store but I…ah…I think I might have forgotten. I’m sorry.”

Shiki prayed he wasn’t blushing. Bringing a good luck charm to someone right before a performance. That was something that you would do for someone you were dating, right? He saw it happen all the time in anime, so it had to be a real thing, right?

He shook his head, reminding himself that Rei likely meant a good luck charm for _everyone_ , not just him. He laughed loudly, waving the silly thought out of his head. “Don’t sweat it! Being here is more than enough! Besides, I already got myself a good luck charm!” he said happily, patting his costume’s pocket.

“Really?” Rei tilted his head curiously, moving his body to take a better look at Shiki’s pocket. “Was is it? Does it help?”

Shiki paused, realizing exactly what he had just done. There was no way he could just admit that he constantly carried around Rei’s note for good luck. And he definitely couldn’t admit that he liked to read it before practices to give him an extra boost of energy. He had to think of something else to say, and fast. “It’s…ah…well I can’t tell you!” he said in a hurry, realizing how suspicious that sounded. “It’s a super mega secret charm, and telling people will ruin the good luck!”

Rei hummed, brow furrowed in interested curiosity. “I see,” he finally said with a tiny frown. “I’m glad it helps,” he finally said slowly, as though worrying his brain over something. “Well, we should go get our seats. But I’ll be cheering you on, Shiki-san!”

Shiki’s brain came to a full stop.

“Wha-what,” he managed to choke out, jumping forward in surprise.

Rei immediately panicked, stepping backwards with his eyes wide. “I’m…I’m sorry. Did I…did I say something wrong?”

He looked so worried, and Shiki nearly broke his glasses as he shook his head vigorously. He couldn’t concern the boy. After all, he hadn’t said anything wrong at all. “No! No no! That’s okay! That’s super mega HYPER okay! My first name is perfect!” He babbled over and over, trying to stop the grin that was forming on his face. He couldn’t help it. Rei opening up and acting less formally around him was enough to make his heart sing. “I know! You should call me Shiki-senpai! How does that sound?”

“But I’m the same age as you…” Rei started, before looking up at Shiki with a small smile. He was blushing, Shiki realized. He was _beautiful_ , Shiki then realized. They both laughed, faces red and hearts light. Shiki wanted to say something. He _had_ to say something. He just didn’t know what.

So he opened his mouth, praying his heart would know the right thing.

But before he could say _anything_ , a loud crash interrupted their conversation. Both boys turned to face the sound of the noise. Jun was scooting a large catering chair underneath the handle of the cleaning closet door, as everyone watched in concerned amazement. He jammed it under there, knocking on the door once before shouting to whoever was inside. “You two can come out as soon as you stop fighting. Or when we need to be backstage. Whichever comes first. _Some_ of us need to concentrate before lives.” He huffed.

Shiki looked around. Everyone was watching with eyes wide, more than a little bit terrified of the boy’s determined wrath. Haruna nearly dropped the plate of donuts he was holding. Hayato’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. Natsuki just stared quietly, mouth slightly agape.

Ren and Takeru were nowhere to be found.

Within seconds, he could hear Ren screaming from the other side, muffled through the side of the door. Jun simply wiped his hands clean, satisfied to go back to his sheet music for the group number.

Shiki pieced it all together, giving out a surprised yelp that immediately drew all eyes to him. “Jun-chi!” He nearly shouted, rushing over to the boy. “Operation Shut Them in a Closet! You remembered! But you said…”  

“I didn’t do it for you. Or for them,” Jun said stiffly. But after a moment, he sighed, relaxing his shoulders before smiling. “But while we have some peace and quiet, how about we go over our dance break again? You nearly stepped on my foot last time, and I think we can probably get the timing better with less distractions,” he almost seemed gentle as he said it. Shiki smiled. It was good to see Jun having fun too.

Still, this was a big development, with the two of them locked in a closet. He couldn’t help how excited he was. Soon, someone was sure to get Michiru and break it up. But for now, they were in there together and something exciting was _bound_ to happen. He turned around, eager to see if Rei saw this. But the boy was gone, nowhere to be found in the catering area.

He sighed, though not upset. He nodded to himself, knowing that Rei was going to be out there cheering him on. After this was all over, he was certain he would have an amazing story to tell him. And maybe, just maybe, he’d have the courage to tell him something else too.


	14. Ren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren DOESN'T run from gay thoughts. Mostly because he doesn't know what gay thoughts are.

Ren slammed his body against the door, before yelling and pounding as loud as he possibly could. He yanked at the handle one more time, desperately trying to get out of the cleaning closet. But all of his efforts were wasted. For a small guy, Jun had certainly done a good job trapping them in there. Ren didn’t even remember how he managed it, and for the life of him he couldn’t figure it out now. But he supposed it didn’t matter. He was trapped.

And worst of all, he was trapped with _him_.

“Come on, Ren,” Short-stuff groaned, flipping on the light switch to the small closet. A small lightbulb dangled above them, washing over the cluttered space with dim yellow light. “Why can’t we agree to just…not fight? Just for the live?”

Ren laughed. Of course the Shortie would come up with a dumb plan like that. “Psh. Yeah right,” he scoffed. “And let you beat me?”

“Beat you at _what_? What are we even fighting _about_?”

“Fighting. Duh.” Ren clarified with an eye roll. Sometimes he wondered why he considered a moron like Shortie to be his rival. But he supposed in the end it couldn’t be anyone else.

“That doesn’t make any sense. You’re hopeless.”

“ _You’re_ hopeless,” Ren hissed out.

The other boy simply groaned, turning around to examine the supplies in the cleaning closet, as though something there might help them escape. That was pointless, Ren decided with a firm nod. Brute force was usually the best way around these things, and no one was stronger than Ren Kizaki.

He braced himself backwards, giving a solid kick to the door with his right foot. Still nothing. He frowned. Clearly he just needed a little more distance, to give himself a head start. He closed his eyes, taking in a small breath as he focused his strength to his legs. He pushed himself backwards a little bit more.

But as he did so, he felt a solid body behind him. He tried to stop his movement, but before he could, he heard a clattering crash. He spun around immediately, his limbs going stiff and his eyes growing wide. Short-stuff was on the floor, for the second time, and Ren hated the way his head spun and his heart sank. “Hey!” He nearly shouted, dropping down to the floor as he moved towards his partner.

“Hey nothing, I’m fine,” Short-stuff informed him, moving a few buckets and brooms out of his way as the two sat in front of each other. Ren grabbed for one of the other buckets, chucking it to the side so that it would never cause such a nuisance again. It bounced off of the left-hand wall and came rolling back, landing near Ren’s feet. The boy grunted at the annoying object.

Still, he had more important things to worry about. He looked at Short-stuff’s ankle carefully, still wrapped up but no longer confined to a sling. It was pretty dim in there, and he wasn’t sure how to tell if it had gotten hurt again. So he reached forward and wrapped both of his hands around it, staring intently at Short-stuff for some kind of sign of pain.

“Stop that!” he hissed as he batted away Ren’s hands. Still, he wasn’t wincing and his voice wasn’t any tenser than usual. Ren sighed in relief. He was okay.

Ren stood up, dusting himself off. “Good,” he finally said, reaching his arm forward to help his unit mate up. They were partners, after all. He might be someone that Ren can’t lose to, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t help each other every once in a while. “I can’t have you hurt again.”

The other boy blinked, eyes furrowed as he stared at Ren. His eyes were focused, like they were right before a fight. But there wasn’t any bite in them. He didn’t look angry. He looked…

“Why do you care?” Shortie finally asked, tilting his head. “You’ll be up on stage soaking up all the attention. I thought you loved that kind of thing.”

Now that was a joke. Ren laughed, but it sounded a lot more bitter than he intended. He couldn’t help it; it was a stupid question. “You’re my rival, duh. A rival to the hero always has to be in top form! It’s not like I’m doting on you like Ramen-Guy. You’re just no good to the unit if you’re hurt.” His heart was pounding, but he wasn’t sure why. He couldn’t seem to figure out what he wanted to say. But he tried anyway, fumbling over his words. “Besides, seeing you all upset like that…it was bothersome. I don’t want it to happen again. Ever.”

At some point, he had broken eye-contact with Shortie, and was now staring intently at the wall. His face felt hot and disgusting. Clearly there was no ventilation in the closet. They had to get out fast before they completely ran out of air. And he looked over to his unit-mate to tell him as much.

But the words left him when he saw the way Shortie was looking at him. It was just like before, but somehow his eyes were brighter, his face softer. He didn’t exactly look confused, more awe-struck. Normally Ren was used to people looking at him with stricken awe. But not Short-stuff. Never like this. Never so…tender, almost. Ren couldn’t put words to it, but he knew the look made his face feel even hotter. His ears were burning now, and his breath was becoming shallow.

“Keep looking at me like that and see what happens,” he warned, looking away again. Maybe the lack of air was getting to the other boy too. Maybe they were both going to pass out. He was going to kill that keyboard-playing brat when he got out of there.

“Like what?” Shortie stepped closer, responding to the threat immediately, closing the space between them.

Ren was forced to look again, unable to look away from a potential fight. It’d be a sign of weakness if he did so. “You know…like…” he waved his hands in the air, frustrated. “ _That.”_ He punctuated his point with a small shove.

Short-stuff shoved back and Ren smiled. Now they were speaking a language he understood.

He shoved at the boy and gave a playful elbow to the stomach. He was about to strike again when the boy shoved his arms off of him, grabbing for the collar of his costume. Ren’s hands immediately went to Short-stuff’s own collar, in an automatic response. His brain felt like it was full of static, and there was a heavy pause between them. Ren couldn’t think about anything at all. It was as though everything around him had been shut off. There was nothing but the tiny storage closet. Nothing but the hands wrapped around his collar, dragging him inward.

Nothing but Takeru.

Their lips were touching in an instant, and things began to click into place again. _Like that,_ he dimly realized as he moved into the kiss. Shortie moved his hands into Ren’s hair, fingertips grazing his scalp as he threaded his fingers through. Ren stepped forwards, backing Takeru against the storage shelf, more gently this time. Still, kissing was a lot like fighting, he decided, justifying it. It was two people moving against each other, fighting silently for dominance. And with how _good_ it all felt, Ren could safely conclude that he was winning.

Shortie’s fingers were still tangled in his hair when they pulled back. He was backed against the shelf, with Ren’s body pushed against him. Even in the dim light, Ren could see his shining eyes and his flushed face. Ren let out a breath, unable to continue looking at him. “You call _that_ kissing, Shortie? Pathetic,” he said, trying to put as much bite in his voice as possible. Still, he didn’t pull away, their legs still tangled in each other as they held each other in place.

The other boy didn’t miss a step though, snorting out an annoyed laugh. “Who you calling Shortie, _Dumbass_?”

Ren looked back over at him, unable to help himself. And he couldn’t help but think how stupid the midget looked in that moment, smiling and looking up at him, with one hand on his hip and the other in his hair. It was an idiotic look, Ren decided.

He’d just have to kiss it off of him. 

\---

Ren isn’t sure how much time had passed when the closet door opened. In fact, he didn’t remember the closet door opening at all. He couldn’t really bring himself to care about anything else but the taste of his rival’s lips, and the way he shifted underneath him. It wasn’t until Shortie squeezed on his shoulders and pulled away from him that Ren bothered to turn around at all.

He winced as bright light flooded the closet, eyes adjusting to the scene outside. Ramen-Guy was holding a chair in his hands, his eyes shifting from concern to immediate surprise. He blinked several times, not taking his eyes off of his two unit mates. Everyone in High x Joker was gathered around, save for Jun. Though now, getting revenge on the other boy was far from on his mind. Rather, he pushed himself off of Shortie, his brain quickly cycling through excuses. The other boy was doing the same, brushing himself off as he fiddled with his stage costume and refused to make eye contact with anyone.

Everyone stared on with quiet amazement, unsure of what to say. Finally, Natsuki smiled gently, tilting his head. “…congratulations…you two,” he offered.

Ren just rolled his eyes, careful not to touch or even look at Short-stuff as he pulled himself out of the closet. He wiped his mouth clean, aware that he was still smiling to himself. He ran his fingers across his lips, remembering the sensation of teeth nibbling against them fondly.  


	15. Rei

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rei takes emotional stock.

In truth, not much had changed after that. Ren and Takeru still argued just as much, if not even more. If anything, now Enjoji-san was just nervous every time they started fighting near a closet door or bathroom. Shiki had told him all about it, excitedly. But if Rei hadn’t heard the story, he wouldn’t have ever guessed anything had changed between them.

“Oy, Violin Boy, give me a bite of your parfait,” Ren leaned over, not waiting for Rei to give the okay before taking a small scoop of mango and stuffing it into his mouth. His face brightened happily, pleased with the flavor as he went for a second bite.

As he did so though, Rei gently swatted his hand away. “You can buy your own,” Rei pointed out, scooting his parfait further away from the boy and closer to Shiki. Ren just pouted, turning back to his own parfait, but he didn’t argue any further. Rei sighed. Really, nothing had changed at all.

Shiki took the opportunity to grab his spoon and take a small scoop of Rei’s parfait for himself. Rei knew he should argue. Pretty soon he’d have none left for himself. But Shiki seemed so pleased with himself as he took a small bite. “Hah! This really is hyper mega good! You have such good taste, Rei-chi! I’m so totally going to get that next time!” He grinned, and Rei prayed that Ren was too stupid to notice the way his face flushed over.

“Ah,” Rei remembered with a blink, turning to face Ren. “That reminds me, Kizaki-san. How is Taiga-san doing? It’s been a week since the show. Is his ankle doing any better?”

The show went off smoothly, though it was clear that they were compensating for Takeru’s inability to dance. Fans went wild after the show, speculating on social media that he might have gotten injured somehow. The Producer was forced to make a brief public statement, just to ease their worries. Still, Takeru had taken it in stride, just happy to have been able to be on stage at all. Rei couldn’t help but wonder how he was doing now.

Ren just shrugged, though his eyes went distant as he thought about it. He chewed on a strawberry, resting his hand in his chin. "He's too much of a dumbass to let it slow him down. I wish he'd take proper time to rest." There was a long beat before the boy caught himself, nearly dropping his spoon. "He'll just be too much of a burden to my greatness if he gets injured again! And there's no point in beating a guy while he's hurt. Really, you'd think he'd learn from being around a genius like me all the time. Yet he's still parading around with that stupid 'I Can't Lose' attitude.”

Shiki laughed, seeing immediately through Ren’s defensiveness. He looked over at Rei before looking back at his friend. “You’re _so cute_ Ren-chi! You really do like him, don’t you?” He took a bite of his own parfait and grinned again, mouth full of whipped cream.

Ren snarled, teeth on full display as he gripped his spoon and took a heaping spoonful of his own parfait. “Pft. Yeah right. What do you and your dumb Violin Boyfriend know? We’re _rivals,_ unlike you two. All lovey-dovey and crap.” He spat before shoving the spoon into his mouth in one go.

Bits of whipped cream sputtered everywhere as Shiki spit out in shock. “M-my what?! We’re not…! I mean Rei-chi and I…well Rei-chi isn’t…” he sputtered constantly, running through several beginnings of a sentence, without ever saying much at all.

Rei’s face was burning. His throat was burning. _Everything_ was burning. He looked down at his hands, trying to piece it all together. It’d be nice, of course. If he ever had the nerve to ask Shiki on a date, he was sure it would be a nice time. Like the first time they ever spent time together. Just the two of them, listening to jazz music and talking at a café. Still, Ren seemed to think they were already dating. Which meant…

“You thought we were together and you still invited yourself along to all of our outings?” He asked, tilting his head. Ren really was something else.

“But we’re not! Together!” Shiki quickly added in, face just as red as Rei’s. But Rei suspected it was for an entirely different reason. He only nodded along, hoping no one could see the hurt in his eyes. Shiki was being pretty defensive. Clearly the implication embarrassed him immensely. Just the thought of them as a couple…

“God. You two are _dense,_ ” Ren laughed, looking at his phone briefly. Ren had texted the others to tell them where they were, on Shiki’s suggestion. He had thought it would be nice to spend their day off together. Ren looked back up, watching the other two with a smirk. “I can’t believe I’m friends with you two idiots.”

Rei wasn’t sure what was more horrifying: that Ren thought _he_ was an idiot, or that Ren considered him a _friend_.

Still, he had wanted more friends his age, right? He sighed as Ren looked around, glancing at his phone again before standing up. He slammed some money on the table, nodding towards the other two before walking out the door, where the others had just arrived outside of the shop.

Rei blinked a little in surprise. Ren actually paid for his share for once. He couldn’t help but smile. Maybe something _had_ changed after all, he realized distantly.

From their table, Rei watched the other six for a long moment. Jun was fanning himself and saying something, likely wanting to get out of the heat. Natsuki was quietly watching the others, amused at the way Ren wrapped his arms around Takeru’s shoulders. Rei still wasn’t sure about nature of their relationship. Then again, he wasn’t sure Takeru or Ren knew either, judging by their expressions as they argued about something. Still, Takeru didn’t push him off, even as they walked into the shop.

“Hey! Over here!” Shiki shouted loudly, waving his arms wildly as though they weren’t the only ones in the café. He started to climb out of his seat to get more attention, before Rei grabbed the bottom of his shirt and tugged him down. He scrambled back into his seat as Jun shot him a look.

“At least let us _order_ first,” he hissed out. He then smiled gently, remembering himself. “Ah. We’ll have to pull up some more seats too. For everyone,” he noted, clearly just as pleased to spending his day off with everyone, with his friends.

Shiki nodded, and both he and Rei stood as they started to gather chairs from other tables. Shiki leaned over towards him, nudging him gently in the stomach. “Hey,” he said in a loud whisper, gesturing over to the others as they looked over the menu and talked among themselves. He nodded towards Haruna, with his hand on Hayato’s shoulder as the shorter boy furiously debated between two different parfaits. The soft expression on Haruna’s face was unmistakable. “You don’t think…” Shiki said, a predatory smile forming on his face as he glanced over at Rei knowingly.

Rei’s blood turned to ice. Not again. Never again.

Shiki then laughed, apparently understanding the boy’s facial expression immediately. He placed the eighth seat at the over-crowded table and sat back down. He sighed as Rei sat down next to him, scooting his chair back inwards, in front of his half-eaten parfait. “You’re right. This has been hyper mega fun. But I’m really not much of a matchmaker, am I?” Shiki admitted with defeat, still smiling as he grabbed a grape from his parfait and popped it into his mouth.

“Well I suppose it worked, in some way…” Rei mused, glancing over at Ren and Takeru again. He wasn’t exactly sure what Shiki would expect to happen, with two guys like that. But he supposed on some level, it was a success. “But it was fun, I have to admit.”

Shiki nodded, grinning ear to ear. “Yeah! It was super extra great to work together with everyone! Though I think the biggest most mega fun thing about it is that I was able to spend so much time with you! If…” his voice quieted down, suddenly, hushing to a near-whisper. “If that makes sense.”

Rei’s head whipped over to look at the other boy. His smile was much softer than usual, almost _shy_ as he looked at Rei. His pulse was pounding in his ears, wondering if he had heard correctly at all. Rei drummed his fingers against the table, as though trying to find a tune that just wouldn’t come. “It…ah…it makes perfect sense, Ise…Shiki-kun,” he then said, tripping over his own words.

Still, Shiki seemed to respond positively, his fingers running over his breath pocket as he took in a sharp breath. “We should do it more often. Like soon. Really soon! Just…just you and me.”

Rei nodded, nearly giving himself a headache with how fast his head was moving. “Yes! That sounds…” he froze, wondering if he was speaking too loud, or if he sounded too eager. The others were all looking at them from the counter. He flushed over, shifting in his seat uncomfortably before turning to Shiki with a small smile. It was a lot better if he just focused on Shiki. “That sounds wonderful,” he said, hushed and gentle.

Shiki nodded, scooting even closer to the boy until their elbows were touching. Rei’s eyes fluttered shut for a moment. He was so warm. It was nice, he decided. Shiki elbowed him, prompting him to open his eyes and look over. Shiki was holding out his spoon, with a little scoop of peaches, grapes and cream on it, offering it for Rei to take a bite. Rei’s ears felt hot, glancing over at the counter nervously to see if his friends were still watching them. As much as he wanted to, wasn’t it a little brazen to do it in front of everyone?

Though when he glanced over, everyone was looking away, giving their orders to the harried woman behind the counter. Everyone, of course, except Ren Kizaki. He had his arm still around Takeru’s shoulder, eyes carefully trained on Rei. He nodded, before turning back around with the wink, as if to give them some privacy.

Ren nodded, more to himself, leaning over as he took the bite from Shiki’s spoon. It was good. Bright, summery, and fresh. Just like Shiki himself. When he looked up Shiki was grinning at him, a small pink blush on his face. Rei’s heart was pounding, and he had to look away just to give himself space to breathe. When he did, Ren had his hand out, flashing Rei a thumbs-up. He wasn’t looking at the two of them, but Ren swore he could see a sly smirk tugging on his lips.

Rei sighed. Maybe Ren Kizaki wasn’t so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all folks! Thank you everyone for reading, and everyone for sticking around through my first adventure in this fandom! It's been a lot of fun, despite taking a great deal longer than expected. Hopefully I'll be writing more of these boys in the future. You can always chat me with @pompouspicklep on Twitter, where I mostly just bully Ren Kizaki. Anyway, thank you so much once again and keep being 315~

**Author's Note:**

> https://twitter.com/pompousspickle
> 
> If you ever want to talk SideM, hit me up! I'm always trying to find more im@s friends.


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